Podcast brought to you by the upcoming Personalized Medicine World Conference taking place in Mountain View, CA, January 28-29. Over 100 speakers in three tracks will discuss how best to navigate the changing landscape of personalized medicine.
Guest:
Ira Klein, MD, Chief of Staff, Office of the Chief Medical Officer, AETNA Bio and Contact Info
Listen (8:55) How do you determine when to pay for a Dx?
Listen (3:45) Are you opposed to covering a test before FDA approval?
Listen (2:56) How do you help physicians keep up with new Dx technology?
Listen (8:43) The problem of misaligned incentives
Listen (4:19) Are diagnostics way undervalued?
Our last show in the series, Commercializing Diagnostics, is from the payer's viewpoint. Reimbursement has become the biggest challenge for Dx companies, so we ask Ira Klein from Aetna to talk about the issues: How does Aetna go about deciding whether to cover a diagnostic? Do they always wait and follow the FDA's lead? What about the unregulated LDT's out there such as CardioDx's CAD test? Formerly a physician himself, Dr. Klein takes us into his world and explores the issues he faces as medicine changes. A fan of the new healthcare law, Klein sees diagnostics and personalized medicine as having a positive impact on the challenges of escalating costs and an aging population. Are diagnostics way undervalued, as Roche's Walter Koch asserted on the program? Tune in for Ira's answer.
