Opinions Regarding the Value and Use of the AMCP Format Still Unknown

Abstract

Journal of Managed Care Pharmacy 609 ■■ Opinions Regarding the Value and Use of the AMCP Format Still UnknownPrior research has demonstrated the importance of pharmacoeconomics in drug research and formularyd ecisions. 1,2,3 A recent JMCP letter to the editor from Lyles and Watkins encouraged increased assessments on the use of the AMCP Format for Formulary Submissions that produce clear inferences concerning the relationship between the dossier and subsequent formularydecisions. 4 However,surprising little evidence of the impact of the AMCP Format and dossiers on drug formularydecisions is evident given that only one recent account by Spooner et al. exists detailing the real-world use of the AMCP Format. 5 In ap revious issue of JMCP,N ichol et al. surveyed representatives from managed careo rganizations (MCOs) and pharmaceutical manufacturers regarding their opinions of the AMCP Format. 6 The results of this survey research aret imely because they shed some light on the formerly unpublished perspectives of these representatives. Furthermore, because the survey was conducted from September 2004 to October 2005, these opinions coincide with the introduction of Version 2.1 of the AMCP Format for Formulary Submissions released in April 2005. 7 It must be noted, however,that Version 2.1 had just been released and that the survey participants werel ikely responding based on their experience with the past version.The Nichol et al. article is a"small survey" of MCOs and pharmaceutical manufacturers. The 20 MCO respondents surveyed came from asample of both large and small companies from the National Directoryo fM anaged CareO rganizations database. The majority (70%) of the MCO respondents held the position of pharmacy director,r esponsible for evaluating dossiers and compiling/presenting the data to pharmacy and therapeutics committees. The 7survey participants from pharmaceutical firms werea ll members of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America Foundations Health Outcomes Committee, which is composed of directors of health outcomes departments who have experience in developing dossiers in accordance with the AMCP dossier guidelines. Therefore, it cannot be assumed that they arerepresentative of pharmaceutical manufacturers as awhole. Theremay be substantial differences in the opinions of employees of pharmaceutical manufacturers compared with this select group of directors.It is surprising that only 40% of all drugs reviewed by MCOs included dossiers from the manufacturer.I nt heir evaluation of pharmaceutical manufacturers' responses to arequest for ap roduct dossier prepared using the AMCP Format, Spooner et al. noted that dossiers werer eceived for only 58% of the products for which dossiers werer equested. 5 Nichol et al. did not report on the number and percentage of drugs for which dossiers had been developed and submitted to MCOs by the companies represented by respondents in their survey of manufacturer representatives.Nichol et al. stated that 54% of the dossiers received by MCOs included b...