Showing papers by "Michael S. Broder published in 2012"

Cost, utilization, and patterns of medication use associated with chronic idiopathic urticaria

Abstract: Background The literature on chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU) lacks large-scale population-based studies. Objective To characterize an insured population with CIU, including their demographic characteristics and comorbidities. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using insurance claims. We included patients with 1 outpatient claim with an International Classification of Diseases, 9 th Edition , Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) code for idiopathic, other specified, or unspecified urticaria (ICD-9-CM 708.1, 708.8, or 708.9) and either (1) another of these claims 6 or more weeks later; (2) a claim for angioedema (ICD-9-CM 995.1) 6 or more weeks from the urticaria diagnosis; or (3) overlapping claims for 2 prescription medications commonly used for CIU. Results We identified 6,019 patients who had claims consistent with CIU. The mean age was 36 years. Fifty-six percent of patients had primary care physicians as their usual source of care, 14% had allergists, and 5% had dermatologists. Allergic rhinitis was diagnosed in 48%, asthma in 21%, other allergy in 19%, and atopic dermatitis in 8%. Sixty-seven percent of patients used prescription antihistamines, 54% used oral corticosteroids (OCSs), 24% used montelukast, and 9% used oral doxepin. Antihistamine users received a mean of 152 days of prescription antihistamines, OCS users 30 days of OCSs, montelukast users 190 days of montelukast, and oral doxepin users 94 days of doxepin. Conclusions Primary care physicians managed most patients with CIU. Antihistamines were the most common treatment for CIU, although OCSs were frequently prescribed. Thirty days of OCS supply among users may represent multiple steroid bursts each year. Given the known risks of OCSs, identifying other CIU treatments with more favorable safety profiles may be beneficial.

Clinical and economic impact of adhesiolysis during repeat cesarean delivery

Abstract: Objective. To estimate adhesiolysis rates at cesarean delivery (CD) and to estimate costs and clinical implications of performing adhesiolysis at repeat CD. Design. Retrospective cohort using secondary data. Setting. Over 500 acute care hospitals in the USA. Population. Women ≥15 years old with a medical claim for CD between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2008 who were treated in a hospital that contributed data to the Premier Perspective™ database. Methods. Using data from hospital discharge records, rates of adhesiolysis at the time of CD were calculated. Among patients with repeat CD, a propensity score was used to create matched cohorts with and without adhesiolysis. Unadjusted rates and means were compared between these cohorts. Main outcome measures. Cost, length of stay and selected clinical complications between repeat CD patients with and without adhesiolysis. Results. Adhesiolysis was performed in 0.5% of primary and 6.1% of repeat CD patients. Using propensity scores, 10 261 women who experienced repeat CD with adhesiolysis were matched to 10 261 control women. Hospital cost ($5739 vs. $5448), length of stay (2.97 vs. 2.88 days) and operative time (84.0 vs. 74.2 min) were significantly greater in the adhesiolysis than in the non-adhesiolysis group (p < 0.01 for all comparisons), as was the overall complication rate (6.3 vs. 3.5%). Conclusions. Adhesiolysis rates were higher in repeat compared with primary CD. Among repeat CD patients, costs and complications were higher in the adhesiolysis group. Reducing adhesion formation after primary CD could reduce cost and complications at the time of repeat CD.

Association between second-generation antipsychotic medication half-life and hospitalization in the community treatment of adult schizophrenia.

Abstract: Objective:To examine the effect of antipsychotic medication half-life on the risk of psychiatric hospital admission and emergency department (ED) visits among adults with schizophrenia.Methods:Retrospective claims-based cohort study of adult Medicaid patients with schizophrenia who were prescribed second-generation antipsychotic monotherapy following hospital discharge between 1/1/04 and 12/31/06. Cox proportional hazards models were applied to compare adjusted hazards of mental disorder admission among patients treated with oral antipsychotics that have either a long [risperidone (t1/2 = 20 h), olanzapine (t1/2 = 30 h), aripiprazole (t1/2 = 75 h)] (n = 1479) or short [quetiapine (t1/2 = 6 h), ziprasidone (t1/2 = 7 h)] (n = 837) half-life. Day-level models controlled for baseline background characteristics and antipsychotic adherence over time as measured by gaps in the prescription record. Similar analyses examined either hospitalization or ED visits as separate endpoints.Results:A significantly ...

Hematologic complications, healthcare utilization, and costs in commercially insured patients with myelodysplastic syndrome receiving supportive care.

Abstract: BACKGROUND Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is rare in people aged <50 years. Most patients with this disorder experience progressive worsening of blood cytopenias, with an increasing need for transfusion. The more advanced and severe the disorder, the greater the risk that it will progress to acute myeloid leukemia. Therapy is typically based on the patient's risk category, age, and performance status. Supportive care alone is a major option for lower-risk, older patients with MDS or those with comorbidities. The only potentially curative treatment option is hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation, which is typically used to treat high-risk, younger patients. OBJECTIVE To describe and compare the hematologic complications, healthcare utilization, and costs of supportive care in patients with MDS aged <50 years and in older patients aged ≥50 years. METHODS Using the i3/Ingenix LabRx claims database, this retrospective study included patients who were continuously enrolled (ie, 6 months preindex through 1 year postindex) in the study and who had an initial claim of MDS (index date) between February 1, 2007, and July 31, 2008. Patients treated with hypomethylating agents or thalidomide analogues were excluded. Claims included information on office visits, medical procedures, hospitalizations, drug use, and tests performed. The hematologic complications, costs, and utilization analyses were stratified by age into 2 age-groups-patients aged <50 years and those aged ≥50 years. The MDS-related diagnoses, utilization, and costs were analyzed postindex. The data used in this study spanned the period from August 1, 2006, to July 31, 2009. RESULTS We identified 1133 newly diagnosed patients with MDS who received supportive care only during the study period; of these, 19.5% were younger than age 50 years. These younger patients included more females (62.0% vs 52.5%; P = .011) and had fewer comorbidities (mean Charlson comorbidy index, 1.2 vs 2.4; P <.001) and physician office visits than those aged ≥50 years. Postindex, compared with the older patients, the younger patients had less use of erythropoietin therapy and fewer transfusions, anemia diagnoses, and potential complications of neutropenia and pneumonia diagnoses; however, more diagnoses of neutropenia and of decreased white blood cell counts were seen in the younger patients than in the older patients (P ≤.034 for all comparisons). Furthermore, younger patients had fewer mean office visits in the postindex period than older patients (17.5 vs 24.2, respectively; P <.001) and fewer hospitalizations (32.1% vs 44.6%, respectively; P = .004), but they had a longer (although not statistically significant) mean length of hospital stay (21 vs 14 days, respectively; P = .131). Mean total healthcare charges were $96,277 (median, $21,287) in younger patients compared with $84,102 (median, $39,402) in older patients, although this difference, too, was not significant. CONCLUSIONS MDS is associated with frequent and prolonged hospitalizations, frequent outpatient visits, and high costs in younger and in older patients who are receiving supportive care. Although this study shows that younger patients aged <50 years do not have significantly higher costs overall, a small proportion may have a higher healthcare utilization and cost-related burden of MDS than patients aged ≥50 years.

Using administrative claims data to estimate virologic failure rates among human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients with antiretroviral regimen switches.

Abstract: Objective. To develop and validate a claims signature model that estimates proportions of HIV-infected patients in administrative claims databases who switched combination antiretroviral therapy (c...

Effect of Oncotype DX colon cancer test results on treatment recommendations in patients with stage II colon cancer: Preliminary results.

Abstract: 398 Background: The Oncotype DX Colon Cancer Recurrence Score (RS) has been clinically validated as an independent predictor of individual recurrence risk in stage II colon cancer patients following surgery. As a result, physicians have been ordering the Oncotype DX assay for stage II colon cancer patients since January 2010, yet no data exist on the assay’s impact on adjuvant treatment planning in practice. We performed a survey to characterize the impact of the assay on adjuvant treatment recommendations in stage II colon cancer. Methods: U.S. medical oncologists (N=277) who ordered Oncotype DX for ≥3 patients with stage II colon cancer were contacted and asked to complete a web-based survey regarding the single most recent stage II colon cancer patient for whom the assay was ordered. The survey was developed through cognitive interviews with four medical oncologists, and the protocol was institutional review board approved. Results: As a planned preliminary analysis, we analyzed surveys from 92 eligibl...

Effect of the 12-gene colon cancer assay results on treatment recommendations in patients with stage II colon cancer.

Abstract: 3626 Background: The Oncotype DX Colon Cancer Recurrence Score (RS) has been clinically validated as an independent predictor of individual recurrence risk in stage II colon cancer patients followi...

Targeted therapies for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC): A systematic review of cost-effectiveness (CE).

Abstract: 583 Background: Currently three targeted agents are available for the treatment of mCRC. Making the right choice requires balancing efficacy, safety, quality of life, and, in cost-constrained syste...

Original article Association between second-generation antipsychotic medication half-life and hospitalization in the community treatment of adult schizophrenia

Abstract: Abstract Objective: To examine the effect of antipsychotic medication half-life on the risk of psychiatric hospital admission and emergency department (ED) visits among adults with schizophrenia. Methods: Retrospective claims-based cohort study of adult Medicaid patients with schizophrenia who were prescribed second-generation antipsychotic monotherapy following hospital discharge between 1/1/04 and 12/31/06. Cox proportional hazards models were applied to compare adjusted hazards of mental disorder admission among patients treated with oral antipsychotics that have either a long [risperidone (t1/2 = 20 h), olanzapine (t1/2 = 30 h), aripiprazole (t1/2 = 75 h)] (n = 1479) or short [quetiapine (t1/2 = 6 h), ziprasidone (t1/2 = 7 h)] (n = 837) half-life. Day-level models controlled for baseline background characteristics and antipsychotic adherence over time as measured by gaps in the prescription record. Similar analyses examined either hospitalization or ED visits as separate endpoints. Results: A significantly lower rate of hospitalization/ED visits was evident for long (0.74/patient-year) vs short (1.06/patient-year) half-life antipsychotics (p < 0.001). The unadjusted rate of hospitalization alone was significantly lower for long (0.38/patient-year) vs short (0.52/patient-year) half-life antipsychotics (p = 0.005). Compared with short half-life antipsychotic drugs, the adjusted hazard ratio associated with long half-life medications was 0.77 (95% CI = 0.67–0.88) for combined hospitalization/ED visits and 0.80 (95% CI = 0.67–0.96) for hospitalization. The corresponding number needed to treat with long, rather than short, half-life medications to avoid one hospitalization was 16 patients for 1 year and to avoid one hospitalization or ED visit was 11 patients for 1 year. Limitations: This study demonstrated an association between antipsychotic medication half-life and hospitalization, not a causal link. Patients using long half-life medications had fewer comorbid mental health conditions and took fewer psychiatric medications at baseline. Other unmeasured differences may have existed between groups and may partially account for the findings. Conclusions: In schizophrenia management, longer-acting second-generation antipsychotics were associated with a lower risk of hospital admission/ED visits for mental disorders.