On October 2nd, the Medical Resource Office (MRO) of the Industrial Commission of Arizona (ICA) held a follow-up stakeholder meeting to address high-cost prescriptions topicals, and Healthesystems joined the discussion.

The MRO shared findings from a white paper confirming that a small group of prescribers and out-of-network pharmacies are driving utilization of costly formulations of diclofenac and lidocaine, bypassing lower-cost alternatives.

While stakeholders supported the findings, they proposed alternatives to the white paper’s recommendations. Instead of to prioritizing NADAC priced drugs or restricting certain labelers, they suggested establishing defined reimbursement caps for topical medications. Another stakeholder suggested the MRO review inventory data since availability of supply could explain higher costs.

MRO invited stakeholders to submit comments and supporting information to mro@azica.gov to help inform the MRO’s ongoing evaluation. The MRO will post a recording of the meeting on its webpage once available.

Healthesystems will submit comments supporting reimbursement caps to promote clinically appropriate, cost-effective care.