Putting patients front and center

‘Access ' and ‘patient value’ are familiar terms in the pharma industry, but so often they are used in the abstract with little sense of what they mean to people at the receiving end of healthcare.  Liz Lewis, Head of Global Oncology Patient Value, Policy, and Access at Takeda Oncology, knows better than most, and knows what these words truly mean to people living with cancer around the globe.  Her experience started in childhood. While in high school, she spent time working in the office of her physician father, gaining an understanding of how the reimbursement process worked. Her father would often discuss the differences between reimbursement in the US and his native UK. “Working in that environment, seeing patients come in every day and what insurance coverage they have, made an impression on me as a teenager because I see the real-world implications of it,” says Lewis.  Clearly her early career as a reimbursement attorney was no accident. This broadened her understanding of the issues. “I developed an understanding of the nuances of what access means from a technical standpoint, which really helps in my current role at Takeda.” Through the patient ’s eyes Her early work life gave her not just a deep legal and regulatory understanding of patient access and related issues, but also a feel for the on-the-ground practicalities. Getting to know patients and seeing their reactions to the reimbursement process has been invaluable. “As an attorney and ...
Source: EyeForPharma - Category: Pharmaceuticals Authors: Source Type: news