John Noseworthy, MD, president and CEO of the Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic, said March 28 current and future healthcare ventures must examine ways to simplify the process of obtaining healthcare and make it more cost-effective for patients, according to CNBC.
Dr. Noseworthy said during an interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box" television segment March 28 he recently had the opportunity to speak to officials involved in the Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase healthcare venture. He said partnerships like their venture must examine ways to "remove the intermediary steps that add so much cost and add no value."
He pointed to pharmacy benefit managers as a prime example of that "intermediary step." PBMs act as the middlemen, negotiating drug benefits for insurance plans and employers, and have become mightier in recent years, Dr. Noseworthy said, adding that there must be a way "to go directly to the patient with some of these answers and some of these products."
As part of that conversation, he specified Mayo Clinic is embarking on projects with various other healthcare organizations to "drive out that waste … [that adds] no value," according to the report.
To access the CNBC report, click here.