MSD’s Perspective on Implementing the VPAG for Improved Health Outcomes
With the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing, Access and Growth (VPAG) agreed between government and industry, MSD believes that focus must now turn to implementation to improve health outcomes. John McNeill, Executive Director at MSD in the UK, writes about the opportunity to achieve this.
Commitments within the VPAG
- Important commitments related to medicines access, adoption, and outcomes
- Ambition for high implementation to have desired impact on health
NHS England’s Commitments
NHS England (NHSE) has committed to:
- Improve data transparency at national and local level
- Track variation in adoption of NICE recommended medicines
- Increase visibility of local variation in implementation of NICE guidance
Tools for Adoption Measurement
NHSE’s commitment includes the development of adoption measurement tools:
- Innovation Scorecard
- Estimate Reports
Enhancing Health Equity
Opportunity to improve health equity by leveraging data for equitable adoption of clinically and cost-effective medicines.
Infrastructure and Metrics
Importance of having the right infrastructure and metrics in place to enable tools to deliver and monitor VPAG performance.
Increasing Visibility
NHSE’s commitment to increase visibility of local variation in NICE guidance implementation to identify barriers to access.
Accountability and Transparency
Clarity on managing outputs from tools, responsibility for addressing issues, and transparency in actions for accountability.
Realizing Benefits Over Time
Benefits of VPAG commitments will be realized over a longer period, reflecting on the overall operation of the Scheme.
Supporting Healthcare Provision
Real opportunity for better, more equitable healthcare provision informed by data, with a commitment to support NHS in implementing VPAG commitments.
MSD is a leading life sciences investor and partner to the NHS. For more information, please visit www.msd-uk.com
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MSD has provided funding for this segment.
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