Well NICE, it's time to move over for value-based pricing in the UK. The UK's Health Minister, Lord Howe, today confirmed that NICE will be gracefully shoved to the side as conservatives get their way. NICE will now move into a non-binding "advisory" capacity in passing on its cost-effectiveness reports to the NHS as it considers drug reimbursement questions.
Lord Howe tactfully indicated that NICE's clinical cost-effectiveness advice was "very, very important" but then followed up that we will move onto our own value-based pricing system. So, NICE is now an "advisor" that will be "replaced" with a new system. Lord Howe also admitted that NICE was "redundant" as the new system emerges.
The current PPRS (can Brits have anymore acronyms) pricing system will be maintained until 2013. At that time, look for NICE to be moved out of the pricing business and into more of a group that assesses "quality standards" Kick!
Posted by Bruce Lehr October 26th 2010.
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