Background
Methods
Identification and inclusion of participants
Interviews and data collection
Data analysis
Ethical approval
Results
Patient perspective |
5 interviews: 4 with parents of patients with SMA 1 with a representative of the patient organisation |
Clinical perspective |
3 interviews: 2 with nurses involved in SMA treatment in the SMA Centre of Expertise in Utrecht 1 with a physician involved in SMA treatment in the SMA Centre of Expertise in Utrecht |
Policy perspective |
5 interviews: 3 with representatives of the governmental organisations involved (5 persons, Ministry of Public Health and Sports and the Dutch Healthcare Institute) 1 with representative of the pharmaceutical company involved (Biogen) 1 with a representative of one of the largest health insurance companies (Zilveren Kruis) |
Emotional impact of the CL on stakeholders |
Q1: “…For us, that was a very intense period because you just feel powerless, because you know there is something and I cannot buy it at the supermarket; how can I get it, I just want my child to get it. We were really desperate at that time because our child was getting worse.” (P) Q2: “Once that decision was made, and our child would miss out, then we actually thought: what are our alternatives? […] So time became more and more urgent and we thought we would emigrate to Belgium. We were actually completely fed up with being in the Netherlands, so we took the necessary steps. We went to see where we could live and what was needed for that, because in Belgium all patients were reimbursed.” (P) Q3: “I mean you might be able to formulate a cut-off limit with it, but is this meaningful enough to override the doctor's duty not on improper grounds, yes, everyone's of course, but the doctor still has that duty himself and you probably feel that too. Somehow it hurts that it is not fair. (C) |
Duration of the CL procedure |
Q4: “Look, there was no cure for SMA. It is a progressive disease and if you yourself take 2 years, and—I'll just say—at your convenience, to reach your decision: that is unacceptable. Look, I can imagine if you have a disease of your eyes for example, and there is a drug that makes you better, but in the meantime it doesn’t get worse. That it is recoverable, but with a progressive disease that is irreversible, time is just key.” (P) |
CL procedure is not appropriate for all types of medicine |
Q5: “But what happened with spinraza: because it worked so well, it was assessed at an accelerated pace. Not only in America but also in Europe this was quickly assessed by the registration authorities. The result was that at the time there was a permit, there had been no publication yet. Because normally the process takes 10 months, then you still have time, but we were at 6 months by then. So we had to wait for the publication. […] At such a moment, the health care institute says: sorry, but the file is not complete. So we cannot assess it yet. This gave a month’s delay and was very frustrating.” (B) Q6: “You will not see that in rare diseases such as a muscle disease where the muscles are simply damaged and can no longer recover. So, stabilization or slower decline is already a huge advantage. I had to explain that. […] So, in other words, in rare diseases, stabilization, being able to turn over in bed, is a huge gain. Or being able to take three more steps, meaning you can still go to the toilet yourself. That is a huge gain. That is very difficult to explain if you do not know what the disease entails and if you look at the outcome of the data, you think: stabilization is “mwah”. At that point therapeutic value is set at less than the cost. But that is not the case, because it has an enormous therapeutic value for this disease. So, I do think you should look at data with a good eye, and I think that is fairly rigid now.” (P) |
Transparency of the CL |
Q7: “I do not know what happens in the time of the coverage lock. That is speculation for me too.” (P) Q8: “But when I ask colleagues, that is what I hear a lot from guys: it’s not always that clear. What I miss in the Coverage Lock is something like: this is what the process looks like, these are the milestones, they are achieved on this day and this day.” (B) |
A wish for patient-centred decision-making |
Q9: “And that mainly concerns, which I find very difficult, that decisions are made about, for example, SMA typing, so type 1 yes, type 2 no, by people who have no idea at all what the typing of SMA means.” (C) Q10: “(…) of whom you actually think: they deserve that treatment, but that is not allowed according to the rules. And that is also very difficult to explain to people. So there are, on all sides as you notice, people around the table, people who do not quite, yes, understand the human dimension or the essence of that patient, so to speak.” (C) Q11: “That is complicated for the government, which has the formal task of doing the assessment. They should keep doing it, because they are the only ones who can do the assessment objectively.” (B) |
The lack of uniformity in access to expensive treatments in European countries |
Q12: “Then I found it very difficult to see on the internet that there were people in other European countries who were adults, had type 3, who were given an injection for the tenth time. While there were young children in the Netherlands who did not get anything yet.” (P) Q13: “I myself became enamored with the German model, where they say: we are putting the patient first, so we are going to start treatment and then we take two years to make a decision. Then we will investigate. So we are not going to wait two years until we make a decision. The patient must not become the victim of our bureaucratic processes. I would find that ideal. Of course, it has drawbacks; I understand that too.” (P) |
Translating the themes into improvements of the CL in the future |
Q14: “I can imagine that you check: is there already a medicine on the market? If there isn’t, then go ahead, then start treatment quickly and negotiate a price. And B if there are drugs on the market, but there will be a new drug that is easier in administration and also cheaper, yes then you have to be quick too, I think.” (P) Q15: “Yes, it will help, I think, because the Netherlands is simply too small if, for example, you unite as European countries and then start negotiations with a larger body with pharmaceutical companies. Then you are just much stronger. […] Well, I think you cannot avoid critical assessment, but the question is whether that should only be done from the Netherlands. Why not do the same with a number of countries. That you say: I work together with Germany and Belgium, as is happening now, for example, with gene-therapy in the Benelux.” (C) |
Emotional impact of the CL on stakeholders
Duration of the CL procedure
CL procedure is not appropriate for all types of medicines
Transparency of the CL
A wish for patient-centred decision-making
The lack of uniformity in access to expensive treatments in European countries
Translating the themes into improvements of the CL in the future
Discussion
This framework consists of four requirements to come closer to a fair decision-making process about the reimbursement of therapies [23]: |
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1. Publicity: meaning the reimbursement decisions must be publicly accessible and ensures clarity about reasons behind a reimbursement decision |
2. Relevance, also called reasonableness. This condition asks for a reasonable explanation of how the organisation provides “value for money” in meeting the varied health needs of a defined population under reasonable resource constraints. Specifically, an explanation is reasonable if it appeals to reasons and principles that are accepted as relevant |
3. There should be a mechanism to challenge and dispute the resolution regarding limit-setting decisions, this includes the opportunity for revising decisions in light of further evidence or arguments |
4. There should be a voluntary or public regulation of the process to ensure that conditions 1 to 3 are met |