Chair:  Judith A. Shinogle, PhD Senior Research Associate, Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research, Maryland, USA

Leadership Group Members:
Abhijit Gadkari PhD, RPh, Manager, US Outcomes Research, Merck & Co., Inc., Philadelphia, PA, USA   
Anuja Roy  PhD, MBA , Senior Manager, Global Health Economics & Outcomes Research, Takeda Pharmaceuticals International, Inc, Deerfield IL, USA
Dyfrig Hughes PhD, MSc, Reader in Pharmacoeconomics, Bangor University Centre for Economics and
Policy in Health, IMSCaR, Bangor, Wales, UK      
Elizabeth Manias RN, BPharm, MPharm, MNStud, PhD, FRCNA, MPS, Professor, Associate Head of
Research, School of Nursing and Social Work, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences,
The University of Melbourne, Carlton, Victoria, Australia            
Ian Barron PhD, PharmD,  Research Fellow, University of Dublin, Trinity College Department of
Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Dublin, Ireland 
John Zeber PhD, MHA, Investigator / Assistant Professor, Veterans Affairs HSRD, San Antonio, TX, USA               
Katarzyna Kolasa PhD, HEOS Manager for Poland and Central Europe, Bristol-Myers Squibb, 
Warsaw,Poland
Lincy Lal Pharm.D, PhD, Senior Research Consultant – Healthcare, Ingenix Consulting, Missouri City,
TX, USA
Mickaël Hiligsmann MPH, MSc, PhD Student, University of Liège HEC-School of Management,
Liège, Belgium
Monali Bhosle PhD, MS, Consultant, Health Economics & Outcomes Research, IMS Consulting,
Falls Church, VA, USA         
Peter Dale MSc, BSc, Manager GHO, GlaxoSmithKline, Uxbridge, UK      
Scott Leslie MPH, Statistician, Prescription Solutions, Costa Mesa, CA, USA        
Stacey Guy BSocSci, Hons Psych, Masters Psych, Research Assistant, I-THINK Research Lawson
Health Research Institute, 801 Commissioners Rd E, Suite B3041, London, Ontario, Canada        
Vernon Schabert PhD, BA, Principal, Health Economics and Outcomes Research IMS Health, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
Veronica Decker MBA, RN, Researcher, Michigan State University, Troy, MI, USA            

Objectives:
To provide a forum for information exchange between members interested in issues relating to:

1. Methods for considering medication compliance and persistence in pharmacoeconomic evaluations
2. Understanding non-compliance and non-persistence using an economic framework
3. What is the cost to healthcare systems of non-compliance and non-persistence?
4. Efficacy versus effectiveness: what is the contribution of non-compliance and non-persistence and what impact does this have on cost-effectiveness?

Activities:

• Rheumatoid Arthritis
  Description:   The objective of this project is to determine the costs of non-adherence to medications among dual eligible Medicare and Medicaid patients with rheumatoid arthritis. 
  Project Leader(s): Maribel Salas
  Proposed methodology:  We propose to analyze the in-house Medicare database that contains a 5% random sample of all Medicare beneficiaries during the period 1999 through 2006 (n=3,346,982) and select all Medicare-Medicaid dual eligible individuals in 1999-2002 (years for which both Medicare and Medicaid data are available) who have diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. We will determine the total costs of medical care by degree of non-adherence to antirheumatic medications.  
  Project start date: In progress
  
  
• Chronic Diseases
  Paper will include Diabetes, Osteoporosis, and Schizophrenia.  Final draft is being prepared for submission for publication.