Recently, a healthsprocket list was posted displaying five measures to cope with the side effects of health reform. The list comes from Pharma Exec and was written by Sydney Rubin. Sydney is a senior communications consultant with inVentiv Health. More than 8 million Americans signed up for health insurance through state health exchanges.

The five measures to be able to cope with the side effects of health reform are: (1) Reach out to patient groups and high-profile patient bloggers to begin discussion on patient perspectives, wants and needs. (2) Provide clear and compelling educational materials to organizations that help demonstrate a medicine’s value. (3) Where ACA safeguards are insufficient, product suppliers should consider advocating for additional state or federal policy interventions. (4) Assume that external and internal communications are visible to payers and make sure all communications around a drug’s value are consistent and aligned, inside the organization and out. (5) The Affordable Care Act has started to improve access to medical care for millions of people/patients. Unfortunately, the real impact of reform will not be known until we see how benefit designs affect access to health products, medicines, and services.

The exchanges have revealed what they have to offer and tradeoffs need to be made in order for patient care to realize moderate premiums under the Affordable Care Act. The time is now for patients/providers of products and services to make sure their voices are heard loud and clear.