MANAGED CARE GUIDELINES FOR THE ECONOMIC-EVALUATION OF PHARMACEUTICALS

Foundation Health Corporation, through its National Pharmacy and Thera peutics Committee, requires all pharmaceutical manufacturers and other s who wish products to be considered for formulary listing to meet evi dentiary and analytical standards in their submission documentation, T his article details the evidentiary and analytical standards required from those making submissions and describes the methodological basis o f the guidelines, This is the first time, as far as the authors are aw are, that a managed care health system in the United States has requir ed formulary submissions not only to meet clinical and economic evalua tion standards, but also to take explicit account of the perspective o f the managed care group in applying these techniques, Submissions are required to take what is described as a systems impact perspective, T his approach is quite different, in both evidentiary and analytical te rms, from standards required by health systems in other countries and standards for the economic evaluation of pharmaceuticals proposed by e xpert groups in the United States.