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There’s no doubt that physicians who take money from pharmaceutical companies prescribe more expensive drugs.

But is that really best for patients?

And what are the real dangers of these financial incentives?

In this episode of CareTalk, David Williams and John Driscoll talk with Dr. Aaron Mitchell, a genitourinary medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, about the precarious role of financial incentives on physician behavior.

This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://betterhelp.com/caretalk and get on your way to being your best self.

As a BetterHelp affiliate, we may receive compensation from BetterHelp if you purchase products or services through the links provided.

TOPICS
(0:22) Sponsorship: BetterHelp
(1:44) Why Should We Care About Incentives in Healthcare?
(2:40) The Nature of Relationships Between Doctors and Pharma
(4:48) The Average Size of Incentives
(6:53) The Impact of Incentives on Prescribing Patterns
(7:45) How Pharma Justifies Financial Incentives
(12:05) When Financial Incentives Lead to Prescribing Worse Drugs
(14:44) A Doctor's Perspective on the Ethics of Incentives
(17:31) Branded Drugs Versus Unbranded Drugs
(20:26) How Doctors Have Reacted to Findings on Financial Incentives
(23:26) Should Patients be Afraid of Getting the Wrong Drug?
(27:15) What's Next for Dr. Aaron Mitchell?

🎙️⚕️ABOUT CARETALK
CareTalk is a weekly podcast that provides an incisive, no B.S. view of the US healthcare industry. Join co-hosts John Driscoll (President U.S. Healthcare and EVP, Walgreens Boots Alliance) and David Williams (President, Health Business Group) as they debate the latest in US healthcare news, business and policy.

🎙️⚕️ ABOUT DR. AARON MITCHELL
Dr. Mitchell is an oncologist and health services researcher with extensive training. He completed his internal medicine residency at Duke University Hospital and his medical oncology fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research examines how financial incentives influence physician behavior and seeks to improve patient outcomes and reduce low-value care through changes in oncology reimbursement models.

Read Dr. Aaron Mitchell's research paper, "Are Financial Payments From the Pharmaceutical Industry Associated With Physician Prescribing? : A Systematic Review":
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33226858/

🎙️⚕️ ABOUT MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER
The team at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) is driven by a unified mission: to end cancer for life. Their specialized care teams deliver personalized, compassionate, and expert care to patients of all ages. Guided by fundamental research from the Sloan Kettering Institute, MSK scientists work together on innovative translational and clinical research, advancing the understanding of cancer and enhancing methods for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

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