December 14, 2019 Report Shows Drug Costs Take Precedence Over Patients' Well-Being Xcenda, an AmerisourceBergen company, has just published a white paper that demonstrates the prevalence of step therapy and its potential negative impact on rheumatology patients. The authors of the report say the practice doesn’t always have the best interest of patents in mind and payers don't entirely disagree. Learn more in this report.   9 Facts About Step Therapy Step therapy policies may be blocking timely access to care for rheumatology patients, finds a new report by Xcenda, an AmerisourceBergen company. The report finds that patients are more likely to be nonadherent or pay out of their own pocket for drugs. Plus, if the treatment doesn't work, 40% patients stop taking them rather than try to get approval for a new treatment. 29% stopped taking drugs due to out-of-pocket costs and 27% stopped taking drugs because the healthcare insurance didn't cover the drug. Learn more in this slideshow.   MORE FROM RHEUMATOLOGY NETWORK • Number Needed to Harm: Opportunistic Infections of IL Inhibitors in Rheumatology • Clinical Quiz: What proportion of female RA patients use contraception? • Who prescribes more treatments for PsA? Rheumatologists or dermatologists? • 4 Factors Associated With Ankylosing Spondylitis Progression   JOB OPPORTUNITIES IN RHEUMATOLOGY Visit Rheumatology Network for easy access to new job opportunities in rheumatology. As a service to our readers, we've posted a national "Job Board" in the upper right-hand corner of the site. Suggestions for other content sections? Email the editor at areyes@mmhgroup.com.