Brook supports clients with evidence-based research and analysis that spans healthcare sectors and stakeholders, contributing to the development of client analysis and insights.
Brook’s experience covers research and internship positions, including a study on the impact of tobacco advertising that tracked and analyzed social media interactions and coinciding market trends. At Free At Last: Community Recovery and Rehabilitation, she created and delivered HIV/AIDS training for internal delivery, wrote grant proposals, and produced material for the organization’s website. Additionally, as a leader in the Health Advocacy Program, she developed interactive lesson plans on nutrition for elementary-school-aged children and researched healthy food alternatives for low-income children.
Brook has a BA in human biology from Stanford University.
Authored Content
Join Avalere experts to learn about the changes to Part D formularies for 2025 and implications for patient access.
Avalere experts will examine changes in Part D plan options and premiums for 2025 and will explore how these shifts may affect patient costs and choice.
Join Avalere for an overview of how the Medicare Part D benefit will be changing in 2025 under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Avalere analysis shows that there are substantial changes and variations in PDP formularies at the therapeutic area and regional levels from 2023 to 2024.
Drug shortages have consequences for a broad range of stakeholders, and policy proposals vary in their ability to address negative impacts.
The CMMI’s EOM began on July 1 with 44 participants. A recent OCM evaluation report described net losses to CMS and lessons that can be applied to EOM.
Avalere released a white paper comparing detection, treatment, outcomes, and spending between MA and FFS Medicare for patients with type 2 diabetes.
The EOM prediction model and benchmarking methodology are more precise than that of the OCM, which will heighten the ability of participants to directly manage costs, including oncolytic spend.
A new Avalere analysis shows the Accelerated Approval pathway provides access to underserved Medicare beneficiaries across a range of conditions with unmet needs.
Stakeholders should consider how the Enhancing Oncology Model’s design and incentives will impact cancer care management and treatment selection.
Avalere released a white paper analyzing spending and utilization among Medicare beneficiaries receiving care from independent physician practices and hospital-owned physician practices in Ohio.
An Avalere analysis found that OCM episode spending remained below the benchmark price for prostate cancer and low-risk breast cancer during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). However, spending continued to exceed the benchmark for other cancers. These patterns suggest a differential impact of the PHE on OCM performance and episode service use by cancer type.
Avalere analysis conducted in collaboration with the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) was published in the American Journal of Managed Care, showing disparities in breast cancer screening rates during the COVID-19 pandemic among racial and ethnic minority groups and based on insurance type.
An Avalere analysis found differences in the performance of low- and high-intensity prostate cancer episodes in the Oncology Care Model (OCM). High-intensity prostate cancer episode expenditures were consistently below the benchmark price while low-intensity episode expenditures were similar to the benchmark price. This finding is likely driven by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) methodology used to calculate benchmark prices but may also indicate participant success in controlling costs for these episodes.
In the OCM, a total cost-of-care model, episode-level Part D expenditures include the amount the government pays for low income cost-sharing subsidy and reinsurance for beneficiaries who reach the catastrophic portion of the benefit once they have accumulated sufficient OOP costs. The latter leads to a seasonality effect in how Part D payments are captured in OCM episodes, which may have implications for how trends in OCM performance are assessed over time and how the OCM benchmark price is constructed.
An Avalere analysis found that Oncology Care Model (OCM) lung cancer episode expenditures increased over 20% from performance periods 2 to 6 while the benchmark price increased about 10% during this period. During this same period, The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) included 20 lung-cancer-specific changes to the OCM Novel Therapy Adjustment (NTA) list. This dynamic supports the inclusion of tumor-specific adjustments in the future Oncology Care First (OCF) model to further account for advancements in cancer management.
An Avalere analysis found that the impact of removing low-risk/low-intensity episodes from the Oncology Care Model (OCM) reconciliation process would not have a notable impact for most practices. Among practices where performance would change, however, performance would improve for most practices if enrolled in 1-sided risk but worsen for most practices if enrolled in alternative 2-sided risk.
As the Oncology Care Model (OCM) approaches its conclusion, stakeholders are anxiously awaiting the details of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation's (CMMI’s) next oncology episodic payment model, Oncology Care First (OCF).
A second reconciliation package could include significant drug pricing reforms as a means to pay for permanent coverage expansion and other top priorities.
An Avalere analysis found that among high-risk breast cancer episodes, those in later stages of the disease had higher episode expenditures relative to their benchmarks compared to those in earlier stages.
An Avalere analysis found that lengthening episode duration from 6 months to a year would not have a large impact on the relationship between episode expenditures and benchmark costs, meaning that performance on longer episodes would not improve relative to shorter episodes.
Avalere analysis found that in 2017 and 2018, more than half (56%) of Medicare patients with breast cancer taking a medicine covered by Medicare Part B received a therapy that was not routinely covered by England’s National Health Service (NHS) or its Cancer Drug Fund (CDF).
Avalere analysis finds that success in the first 4 performance periods of the Oncology Care Model (OCM) was correlated with reductions to inpatient expenditure and spend reductions within certain high-cost tumor types. Further, smaller community-based practices and those that had lower per-episode expenditure in the baseline period tended to be more successful.
Under the Medicare Advantage (MA) Star Ratings Program, plans with 4-stars or more receive the greatest benefit from the Quality Bonus Program (QBP) in the form of higher benchmarks and bonus payments.
Prescription drugs are dispensed to patients through a complex supply chain that involves a broad array of entities, contract arrangements, and payments. The following diagram outlines how a typical prescription drug may flow through the drug supply chain.
On March 2, the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) announced that it will review an appeal of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeal’s decision in Texas v. Azar regarding the legality of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) individual mandate and other provisions.