Judith D. Bentkover

Judith D. Bentkover, Ph.D.

Dr. Judith D. Bentkover is the President and CEO of Innovative Health Solutions, a corporation dedicated to providing research, strategic analysis, and consulting services to health care manufacturers, providers, and payers in order to improve the performance of their products. In this capacity, Dr. Bentkover leads international multidisciplinary teams of IHS staff, allied academics and other affiliated experts in engagements focused on creating market advantage through strategic product economics. Her specific areas of expertise include strategic planning, market analysis, pricing, wellness management, R&D evaluation, and therapy economics (including quality of life studies, health policy analysis, outcomes analysis, education and training, journal article preparation). She has worked for a variety of global health care clients including developers of pharmaceutical and biotechnology products; manufacturers of medical devices, diagnostics, and supplies; providers of acute, long term and subacute health care services; managed care organizations; industry associations and coalitions; government agencies; and health care insurers.

Dr. Bentkover has worked throughout Europe and Asia and has considerable experience and knowledge of the health care systems in France, Germany, UK, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Benelux, Switzerland, Denmark, Japan, and Singapore.

Previously, Dr. Bentkover was the Industry Director for all KPMG audit, tax, and consulting activities to pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotechnology clients. She was also the Partner-in-Charge of KPMG Peat Marwick's Strategic Health Solutions practice, a global consulting team providing strategy development, therapy economics, wellness management, policy analysis, and product portfolio evaluation.

As a prominent health economist, Dr. Bentkover was a member of the Harvard University faculty, where she taught health economics and policy and directed the Ph.D. program sponsored by Harvard's Medical School, Kennedy School of Government, School of Arts and Sciences and School of Public Health.

In both the non-profit world of academic research and the for-profit world of contract research, Dr. Bentkover has successfully managed large scale projects relating to the development of products and policies concerning integrated health care management, therapy economics, reimbursement policy, product pricing and health care reform.

As a Vice President of Arthur D. Little International and a Director in both the European and North American consulting practices, she built a worldwide practice devoted to assisting health and biotechnology companies develop strategic responses to health care policy trends and reimbursement regulations.

During a leave of absence from Arthur D. Little, Dr. Bentkover helped start the Boston Health Care Coalition, the Greater Boston Health Forum. She was the Deputy Director of the Coalition, and was responsible for Fundraising and Research Projects

Over the past 20 years, Dr. Bentkover has authored approximately 100 research articles, chapters, monographs, books and reports. She is on Health Care 500's list of the most influential health policy makers in the U.S. and is recognized as a developer of pharmacoeconomics, translating cost-benefit methodology into innovative strategic management tools. In addition to leading executive workshops, she is a member of the editorial board of several professional journals and is a guest lecturer at numerous universities and conferences.

Representative Accomplishments

For a major pharmaceutical company, she oversaw the largest-ever study of overactive bladder (OAB) patients, which enrolled approximately 6,000 patients and 600 urologists throughout the U.S. The project included designing and producing survey materials; training the sales force; monitoring physician and patient enrollment; monitoring phone, fax and email support lines; setting up the results database; and developing the analysis plan.

For a major pharmaceutical company, managed and supervised a program to disseminate the results of Health Economic studies throughout the company.

For a major pharmaceutical company, she is currently overseeing a study that will provide the first comprehensive look at the cost of illness of overactive bladder (OAB) in the U.S. It includes a literature review of OAB prevalence and cost data as well as analysis of both direct and indirect medical and non-medical costs. 1990’s

For a prestigious New York City law firm, she managed and supervised the economic analysis of a comprehensive medical care plan and medical care cost summary for a patient with chronic asthma and seizure disorder.

For a large law firm with offices throughout the U.S., she provided expert services related to the estimation of damages associated with injuries following infant vaccination.

For the U.S. government, she estimated costs of medical needs associated with injuries known or suspected to be related to vaccines.

For Harvard School of Public Health and Kennedy School of Government, she taught methods of preparing estimates of forgone earnings and the present values of future expenditures associated with injury and illness cases.

For a major pharmaceutical company, she directed a pricing study and developed marketing recommendations for a novel treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.

For a major pharmaceutical company, she directed a market and pricing analyses for a later-entry proton-pump inhibitor and developed recommendations for marketing, positioning, contracting, and discounting for the product.

For a major pharmaceutical company, she is currently directing follow-on research regarding the current position of the company's product in the evolving rheumatoid arthritis market.

For an international pharmaceutical company, she directed both a cost of illness study of irritable bowel syndrome in Canada and the development of a model demonstrating the potential costs averted by use of by the firm's therapy in order to create market awareness and subsequent acceptance of the product.For a development stage biotechnology company, she supervised the development of an economic model of periodontal disease to support pricing and market potential estimates. The estimates were used as the basis of future pharmacoeconomic analyses and were also used to support the company's efforts to develop a strategic partnership with a corporate partner.

For a major U.S. medical device manufacturer, she led an analysis of the disease state management industry including disease evaluation, competitor mapping and evaluation, identification of key program attributes and determination of program characteristics. Strategic recommendations from the report were presented to key company executives and board members.

For a biotechnology firm, she directed a market analysis and development of a pricing strategy for a line of blood component pathogen inactivation systems.

For a major pharmaceutical company, she supervised the development of a Therapy Economics manual on how to conduct cost-effectiveness studies for products expected to be launched on the U.S. market.

For a major pharmaceutical company, she directed the strategic analysis of potential reimbursement by Medicare for a self-injectable drug.

For a corporation that produces clinical information systems for office-based physicians, she developed a market entry strategy including pricing recommendations for the company's products and services.

For a group of pharmaceutical companies, she directed the strategic analysis of the impact of all major proposals for health care reform.

For the pharmaceutical manufacturers industry association, she was the principal investigator of a major study defining the vision of integrated patient care and demonstrating its potential for improved health care outcomes and reduced costs of heath care delivery.

For a state hospital association, she undertook a quantitative assessment of how political and socioeconomic changes would affect the hospital sector in the 1990's. .

For a major pharmaceutical manufacturer, she conducted a health care policy assessment of the future of the health care sector from 1988 until the year 2000. In this assignment, she considered the effects upon and from providers, government, employers, labor unions, insurers, general socioeconomic and demographic trends, and the state of medical technology. This analysis was the basis of many strategic planning recommendations.

For several large pharmaceutical manufacturers, she supervised the design and implementation of both retrospective and prospective pharmacoeconomic/quality-of-life analyses. Such analyses have been used in pricing decisions, as well as obtaining reimbursement from government organizations and other payers. Many of these studies have been published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at academic meetings.

For a major pharmaceutical firm, she formulated a pan-European pricing strategy for a complex cancer therapy. The strategy addressed reimbursement, price controls, pricing transparency, and competitive dynamics.

For a variety of corporate clients, she conducted environmental assessments of health care industry and analysis of particular health care reimbursement policies in relation to specific illnesses; e.g., cancer and cardiovascular disease, etc.

For pharmaceutical company, she developed and implemented health economic evaluations of alternate drug therapies to prevent stroke. The evaluations included the direct and indirect costs of treating stroke, non-cerebrovascular embolus and drug-related adverse events.

For a major pharmaceutical company, she developed an international economic and quality-of-life analysis strategy for a cardiovascular drug entering Phase III clinical trials. She assessed the future regulatory requirements regarding the use of economic and QOL analyses in the approval, pricing and reimbursement of pharmaceutical products in the U.S., Canada and Europe.

On behalf of an emerging biopharmaceutical firm, she developed U.S. and European cost-benefit, computer-based, decision-analytic models of a homologous platelet-derived wound healing formula used in the treatment of chronic, non-healing ulcers in diabetic patients.

For a pharmaceutical company, she developed an international cost-benefit analysis of various drugs used in the treatment of major depression.

For a pharmaceutical firm, she was the principal author of an analysis of four years of Medicaid data from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to determine the cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness of the client's drug in treating patients suffering from schizophrenia.

On behalf of a major pharmaceutical firm, she developed an economic model to be used to determine the direct and indirect costs of diagnosing and treating ulcers and other adverse events associated with the use of alternative, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in the treatment of osteoarthritis.

For a major pharmaceutical company, she designed CEAs of current drugs in the treatment of metastic breast cancer and ovarian cancer.

For a pharmaceutical company, she provided assistance in the identification and quantification of economic benefits of a new cardiovascular drug.

For Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PMA), she developed cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness methodologies involving various medical and surgical inventions as alternative treatments for specific angina, MI, and glaucoma.

For several major health industry manufacturers, she conducted an economic evaluation of various medical technologies involving devices and pharmaceutical products.

For one of the big three automobile manufacturers, she designed an analysis of health benefit plan options and recommended plan design.

For several pharmaceutical manufacturers, she designed a survey and analysis of worldwide regulatory requirements pertaining to economic analysis as a prerequisite to product reimbursement.

For Harvard University, she developed the curriculum and funding sources for a Ph.D. program linking several colleges within Harvard in order to grant a doctorate in health services research.

For Harvard School of Public Health, she procured funding for a research program in health care technology assessment.

For Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, she raised foundation funding for an educational program involving management and labor in health care policy development.

For the Greater Boston Health Forum, she established a research program (including fundraising) for a local health care coalition comprised of universities, industry, providers, payers, and patient advocacy groups.

Professional Memberships

          Medical Outcomes Trust
          Association for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research
          Drug Information Association

Representative Publications

Bentkover, J. with W.B. Stason, "Cost-Benefit and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis in the Evaluation of Treatment for Cardiovascular Disease," U. Abshagen, F.E. Munnich, eds., Costs of Illness and Benefits of Drug Treatment, 1989:35-44.

Bentkover JD. Health Economics - Current Practices in Europe and the US. Talking Points.

Bentkover JD. New Way to Hold Down the Soaring Costs of Health Benefits. Regardless of the Company Size. Boardroom Reports 1984.

Bentkover JD. Reducing High Blood Cholesterol Levels with Drugs. JAMA 1991, 265(15).

Bentkover JD, Baker AM. Achieving a Competitive Edge in the More-Challenging U.S. Health Care Regulatory and Delivery Environment. Spectrum 1991, 22:1-9.

Bentkover JD, Baker AM. Health Care Policy Reform: Implications for the Pharmaceutical Industry. Journal of Research in Pharmaceutical Economics 1994, 5(3):223-232. .

Bentkover JD, Baker AM. Prosperous changes: New Pricing Plans Spell Success. Pharmaceutical Executive 1992

Bentkover JD, Champion A. Economic Evaluation of Alternative Methods of Treatment for Diabetic Foot Ulcer Patients: Cost-Effectiveness of Platelet Releasate and Wound Care Clinics. Wounds, 5(4):207-215.

Bentkover JD, Feighner JP. Cost Analysis of Paroxetine versus Imipramine in Major Depression. PharmacoEconomics 1995, 8(3).

Bentkover JD, Lash C. Health Care Reform Under the Clinton Administration: A Stakeholder's Guide. Spectrum 1993.

Bentkover JD, Minnear M. Is Managed Care Friend or Foe? Scrip Magazine 1996.

Bentkover JD, Stason WB. Cost-Benefit and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis in the Evaluation of Treatment for Cardiovascular Disease. Costs of Illness and Benefits of Drug Treatment 1989, 35-44.

Bentkover JD, Baker AM, Kaplan H. Nabumetone in Elderly Patients with Osteoarthritis: Economic Benefits versus Ibuprofen Alone or Ibuprofen plus Misoprostol. Pharmacoeconomics - Aids International Limited 1994, 5(4):335-342.

Bentkover JD, Schroeder R, Lee AJ. Effects of Rate Review on the Financial Viability of New York Hospitals: A Retrospective Assessment. Hospital and Health Service Administration 1985.

Bentkover JD, Field C, Greene EM, Plourde V, Casciano J. The Economic Burden of Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Canada. Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology 1999, 13(Suppl. A):89A-96A.

Bentkover JD, Sheshinski RH, Hedley-Whyte JH, Warfield CA, Mosteller F. Low Back Pain: Laminectomies, Spinal Fusions, Demographics and Socioeconomics. International Journal of Technology Assessment on Health Care 1992, 8(2).

Bentkover JD, Sloan F, Feeley F, Campbell C, Firth L. Hospital Capital and Operating Costs. Advances in Health Economics and Health Services Research 1984, 5:213-236.

Bentkover JD, Stewart EJ, Magar RM, Saffar JM, Greene EG, Parison D. An Economic Evaluation of Hypertension in Ontario. Presenting author at International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research International Meeting. Washington, DC. May, 1999.

Getz KA, Bentkover JD. Making Sense of a Noisy Issue: The Impact of AIDS on the Insurance Industry. Journal of the American Society of CLU & CHFC 1992.

KPMG. Biopharmaceutical Industry Key Issues Survey 1996.

KPMG. Integrated Patient Care: Managing Health Care Costs, Maximizing Health Care Value and Quality 1996.

Langman M, Kahler KH, Kong SX, Zhang Q, Finch E, Bentkover JD, Stewart EJ. Drug Switching Patterns among Patients Taking Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs: A Retrospective Cohort Study of a General Practitioners Database in the United Kingdom. Publication Forthcoming.

Langman M, Kong SX, Kahler KH, Finch E, Stewart EJ, Bentkover JD. Use of Gastrointestinal Health Care Resources among Elderly Patients Initiating Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs: A Retrospective Cohort Study of a General Practitioners Database in the United Kingdom. Publication Forthcoming.

Lapierre Y, Bentkover JD, Schainbaum S, Manners S. Direct Cost of Depression: Analysis of Treatment Costs of Paroxetine versus Imipramine in Canada. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 1995, 40:370-377.

Stason WB, Bentkover JD. Insights from the VA Quality Management System Project. VA Practitioner 1989, 6(11):35-44.

EJ, Bentkover JD, Frech FH, Doan QD, Bedigian MP. Symptomatology and Quality of Life Assessment in Hypertensive Patients Following a Change in Treatment Regimen. Presented at the Third International Symposium on Angiotensin II Antagonism. London. February, 2000.

Tolpin HG, Bentkover JD. The Economic Costs of Sports Injuries. Sports Injuries: The Unthwarted Epidemic 1982, 45-55.

Vohr B, Oh W, Stewart EJ, Bentkover JD, Gabbard SA, Lemons J, Papile LA, Pye R. An Economic Evaluation of Universal Infant Hearing Screening. Publication Forthcoming. Presented at Annual Meeting of American Academy of Pediatrics. Washington, DC. October, 1999.

Oh W, Stewart EJ, Bentkover, JD, Gabbard S, Lemons J, Papile LA, Pye R. A Comparison of Costs and Referral Rates of Three Universal Newborn Hearing Screen Protocols. Journal of Pediatrics. Publication Forthcoming.