CIHR Evidence Informed Healthcare Renewal: Featured Researchers

Who
Dr. Steve Morgan, Associate Director and Associate Professor at the UBC Centre for Health Services and Policy Research and Lead of the Pharmaceutical Policy Research Collaboration (PPRC), a CIHR/Health Canada Emerging Team grant on Equity in Access to Necessary Medicines.

Issue
Pharmaceutical policy is a key component of health system management. However, many stakeholders in Canada are frustrated that key pharmaceutical policy goals – including providing equitable and sustainable access to necessary medicines – have not been met. A lack of policy coordination and insufficient evidence to take major new initiatives in pharmaceutical policy are the main obstacles.

Approach
Dr Morgan works with policy makers from across Canada and around the world to identify current and emerging policy challenges and to prioritize and conduct policy evaluations and comparative policy studies. He and other members of the PPRC then engage in a variety of innovative strategies to share policy insights with policy makers and the public.

Impact
The lessons learned through policy evaluation and knowledge exchange help drug plan managers and senior health care planners to develop new strategies for managing drug expenditures. This new knowledge also helps decision makers map a course for policy development that might achieve long-sought goals of equity and sustainability in this important component of health care.