Challenges and solutions for integrating and financing personalized medicine in healthcare systems : a systematic literature review

The scope and ambitions of biomedical institutions worldwide currently working toward the integration of personalized medicine (PM) require recognizing the potential profound impact on regulatory standards and on the economic functioning and financing of healthcare. Against this background, researchers and policymakers must manage the arising challenges for the healthcare systems. In this paper we study the literature related to the consequences of PM on health insurance and care systems. Using the PRISMA research protocol, we search the existing body of literature and analyze publications dealing with insurance (419 papers) in the field of PM. After a detailed reading of the 52 studies included in our analysis, we synthesize challenges in three fields that must be addressed to avoid hindering the implantation of PM. The key issues that we highlight concern (1) a lack of clear and consistent data on the economic relevance of PM, (2) a value-oriented and cost-efficient definition of reimbursement thresholds, (3) the implementation of PM in the prevailing healthcare system. In the meantime, we provide several solutions to these concerns; we present (a) risk-sharing contracts that can deal with the emerging coverage challenges, (b) criteria that could constitute future reimbursement thresholds and (c) examples of successful implementations of PM into healthcare systems. Our findings are relevant for policymakers and health insurance companies for redefining the guidelines for the healthcare schemes of the future.