Real Practice Assessment of Persistent Symptoms After Initiation of Levothyroxine.

OBJECTIVE: Levothyroxine (LT4) is the standard treatment for hypothyroidism. However, certain patients experience persistent symptoms even after achieving euthyroid status with LT4 therapy. We aimed to determine the frequency of persistent or new symptoms in patients with hypothyroidism after initiating LT4. METHODS: This retrospective study included patients with hypothyroidism who started on LT4 between January 2017 and December 2019 at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, USA. Five hundred patient charts were randomly selected for review. Patients with at least 1 documented follow-up encounter after LT4 initiation were evaluated for ≤3 follow-up visits regarding their biochemical status and symptoms. RESULTS: We included 356 patients, a majority of whom were female (66.6%), white (92.3%), and obese (71.9%), with an average age of 59.5 years. At the baseline visit, approximately one-half of the patients (177/356, 47.7%) reported hypothyroid symptoms, with fatigue being the most common symptom. During the follow-up periods, we observed that 17.8% (28/157), 17.9% (19/106), and 19.3% (11/57) of patients had normal thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) values but persistent symptoms, while 12.3% (19/156), 19.9% (16/107), and 8.9% (5/56) had normal TSH values but new symptoms. Overall, during each respective follow-up period, 26.7% (42/157), 27.3% (29/106), and 28% (16/57) of patients experienced persistent or new symptoms alongside normal TSH values, with fatigue being the most constant symptom. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that approximately 1 in every 4 patients with hypothyroidism receiving LT4 therapy and achieving normal TSH levels experience persistent or new hypothyroid symptoms. The cause of these symptoms remains unclear, emphasizing the need for a better understanding of their underlying causes and the development of effective management strategies.

Financial Toxicity in the Clinical Encounter: A Paired Survey of Patient and Clinician Perceptions.

Objective: To compare the agreement between patient and clinician perceptions of care-related financial issues. Patients and Methods: We surveyed patient-clinician dyads immediately after an outpatient medical encounter between September 2019 and May 2021. They were asked to separately rate (1-10) patient's level of difficulty in paying medical bills and the importance of discussing cost issues with that patient during clinical encounters. We calculated agreement between patient-clinician ratings using the intraclass correlation coefficient and used random effects regression models to identify patient predictors of paired score differences in difficulty and importance of ratings. Results: 58 pairs of patients (n=58) and clinicians (n=40) completed the survey. Patient-clinician agreement was poor for both measures, but higher for difficulty in paying medical bills (intraclass correlation coefficient=0.375; 95% CI, 0.13-0.57) than for the importance of discussing cost (-0.051; 95% CI, -0.31 to 0.21). Agreement on difficulty in paying medical bills was not lower in encounters with conversations about the cost of care. In adjusted models, poor patient-clinician agreement on difficulty in paying medical bills was associated with lower patient socioeconomic status and education level, whereas poor agreement on patient-perceived importance of discussing cost was significant for patients who were White, married, reported 1 or more long-term conditions, and had higher education and income levels. Conclusion: Even in encounters where cost conversations occurred, there was poor patient-clinician agreement on ratings of the patient's difficulty in paying medical bills and perceived importance of discussing cost issues. Clinicians need more training and support in detecting the level of financial burden and tailoring cost conversations to the needs of individual patients.

Appropriate Use of Telehealth Visits in Endocrinology: Policy Perspective of the Endocrine Society.

OBJECTIVE: This work aims to guide clinicians practicing endocrinology in the use of telehealth (synchronous patient-clinician visits conducted over video or telephone) for outpatient care. PARTICIPANTS: The Endocrine Society convened a 9-member panel of US endocrinologists with expertise in telehealth clinical care, telehealth operations, patient-centered care, health care delivery research, and/or evidence-based medicine. EVIDENCE: The panel conducted a literature search to identify studies published since 2000 about telehealth in endocrinology. One member extracted a list of factors affecting the quality of endocrine care via telehealth from the extant literature. The panel grouped these factors into 5 domains: clinical, patient, patient-clinician relationship, clinician, and health care setting and technology. CONSENSUS PROCESS: For each domain, 2 or 3 members drew on existing literature and their expert opinions to draft a section examining the effect of the domain's component factors on the appropriateness of telehealth use within endocrine practice. Appropriateness was evaluated in the context of the 6 Institute of Medicine aims for health care quality: patient-centeredness, equity, safety, effectiveness, timeliness, and efficiency. The panel held monthly virtual meetings to discuss and revise each domain. Two members wrote the remaining sections and integrated them with the domains to create the full policy perspective, which was reviewed and revised by all members. CONCLUSIONS: Telehealth has become a common care modality within endocrinology. This policy perspective summarizes the factors determining telehealth appropriateness in various patient care scenarios. Strategies to increase the quality of telehealth care are offered. More research is needed to develop a robust evidence base for future guideline development.

ABLE to support patient financial capacity: A qualitative analysis of cost conversations in clinical encounters.

OBJECTIVE: To explore how costs of care are discussed in real clinical encounters and what humanistic elements support them. METHODS: A qualitative thematic analysis of 41 purposively selected transcripts of video-recorded clinical encounters from trials run between 2007 and 2015. Videos were obtained from a corpus of 220 randomly selected videos from 8 practice-based randomized trials and 1 pre-post prospective study comparing care with and without shared decision making (SDM) tools. RESULTS: Our qualitative analysis identified two major themes: the first, Space Needed for Cost Conversations, describes patients' needs regarding their financial capacity. The second, Caring Responses, describes humanistic elements that patients and clinicians can bring to clinical encounters to include good quality cost conversations. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that strengthening patient-clinician human connections, focusing on imbalances between patient resources and burdens, and providing space to allow potentially unexpected cost discussions to emerge may best support high quality cost conversations and tailored care plans. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: We recommend clinicians consider 4 aspects of communication, represented by the mnemonic ABLE: Ask questions, Be kind and acknowledge emotions, Listen for indirect signals and (discuss with) Every patient. Future research should evaluate the practicality of these recommendations, along with system-level improvements to support implementation of our recommendations.

Impact of Cost Conversations During Clinical Encounters Aided by Shared Decision-Making Tools on Medication Adherence.

Objective: To investigate the impact of cost conversations occurring with or without the use of encounter shared decision-making (SDM) tools in medication adherence. Patients and Methods: Using a coding scheme that included the occurrence and characteristics of cost conversation, we analyzed a randomly selected sample of 169 video recordings of clinical encounters. These videos were obtained during the conduct of practice-based randomized clinical trials comparing care with and without SDM tools for patients with diabetes, osteoporosis, and depression. Medication adherence was described in 2 ways: as a binary (yes/no) outcome, in which the patient met at least 80% adherence, or as a continuous variable, which was the percent of days that the patient adhered to their medication. The secondary analysis took place in 2018 from trials that ran between 2007 and 2015. Results: Most patients were White (155, 93.4%), educated (104, 63.4% completed college), middle-aged (mean age, 58 years), female (104, 61.5%), and from diabetes (86, 50.9%), depression (43, 25.4%), and osteoporosis (40, 23.7%) trials. Cost conversations occurred in 119 clinical encounters (70%) and were more frequent in those encounters in which SDM tools were used (P=.03). Furthermore, 97 (57.4%) of the participants reported more than 80% medication adherence and 70.3±29.34 percentage of days with adherent medication of 70 days. In the multiple regression model, the only factor associated with adherence (binary or continuous) was the condition of the trial in which people participated. For the participants who had cost conversations, the use of an SDM tool, their sex, the nature of cost conversation (direct or indirect), the nature of cost concerns (treatment or patient issue), and the clinician-offered strategies (yes or no) were not associated with adherence. Conclusion: In this videographic analysis of SDM practice-based clinical trials, cost conversations were not associated with the general measures of medication adherence. Future studies should assess whether a tailored cost conversation intervention would impact the cost-related nonadherence among patients.

Rates of, and factors associated with, switching among generic levothyroxine preparations in commercially insured American adults.

IMPORTANCE: Some practice guidelines warn against generic L-thyroxine preparation switching. OBJECTIVE: To examine the rates of generic L-thyroxine preparation switching within one year of initiating L-thyroxine, and to examine factors associated with switching. DESIGN AND SETTING: Retrospective study using national data from a large administrative claims database from January 2008 through November 2018. PATIENTS: Medicare or commercially insured adults (≥18 years) who filled a generic L-thyroxine preparation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: At least one switch from one generic L-thyroxine preparation to another within 1 year of L-thyroxine initiation defined by prescription fills. RESULTS: From January 2008 to November 2018, we included 483,390 patients who initiated generic L-thyroxine: mean (SD) age was 61.4 years (15.2), 75.2% were female, 72.6% were white. Within 1 year of initiating therapy, 98,013 (20%) switched to another L-thyroxine generic preparation at least once. In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, factors associated with switching included the number of pharmacies visited to fill L-thyroxine (>2 vs 1 adjusted OR [aOR] 7.15, 95% confidence interval [CI] 6.97-7.34), age ≥75 vs. <45 years (aOR 1.29, 95% CI 1.26-1.33), history of thyroid surgery (aOR 1.22, 95% CI 1.13-1.31), and first L-thyroxine fill date in 2018 vs. 2008 (aOR 3.32, 95% CI 3.14-3.51). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: One in five patients switched among generic L-thyroxine manufacturers within one year of treatment initiation. Generic L-thyroxine switching occurred more often when more pharmacies were used to fill L-thyroxine. Given existing guideline recommendations, additional studies should clarify the impact of generic L-thyroxine switching on thyroid hormone values.

Patients' Perspective About the Cost of Diabetes Management: An Analysis of Online Health Communities.

OBJECTIVE: To understand the perspectives of persons' living with diabetes about the increasing cost of diabetes management through an analysis of online health communities (OHCs) and the impact of persons' participation in OHCs on their capacity and treatment burden. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A qualitative study of 556 blog posts submitted between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2017 to 4 diabetes social networking sites was conducted between March 2018 and July 2019. All posts were coded inductively using thematic analysis procedures. Eton's Burden of Treatment Framework and Boehmer's Theory of Patient Capacity directed triangulation of themes with existing theory. RESULTS: Three themes were identified: (1) cost barriers to care: participants describe individual and systemic cost barriers that inhibit prescribed therapy goals; (2) impact of financial cost on health: participants describe the financial effects of care on their physical and emotional health; and (3) saving strategies to overcome cost impact: participants discuss practical strategies that help them achieve therapy goals. Finally, we also identify that the use of OHCs serves to increase persons' capacity with the potential to decrease treatment burden, ultimately improving mental and physical health. CONCLUSION: High cost for diabetes care generated barriers that negatively affected physical health and emotional states. Participant-shared experiences in OHCs increased participants' capacity to manage the burden. Potential solutions include cost-based shared decision-making tools and advocacy for policy change.

Impact of Cost Conversation on Decision-Making Outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: To understand the impact of cost conversations on the following decision-making outcomes: patients' knowledge about their conditions and treatment options, decisional conflict, and patient involvement. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In 2020 we performed a secondary analysis of a randomly selected set of 220 video recordings of clinical encounters from trials run between 2007 and 2015. Videos were obtained from eight practice-based randomized trials and one pre-post-prospective study comparing care with and without shared decision-making (SDM) tools. RESULTS: The majority of trial participants were female (61%) and White (86%), with a mean age of 56, some college education (68%), and an income greater than or equal to $40,000 per year (75%), and who did not participate in an encounter aided by an SDM tool (52%). Cost conversations occurred in 106 encounters (48%). In encounters with SDM tools, having a cost conversation lead to lower uncertainty scores (2.1 vs 2.6, P=.02), and higher knowledge (0.7 vs 0.6, P=.04) and patient involvement scores (20 vs 15.7, P=.009) than in encounters using SDM tools where cost conversations did not occur. In a multivariate model, we found slightly worse decisional conflict scores when patients started cost conversations as opposed to when the clinicians started cost conversations. Furthermore, we found higher levels of knowledge when conversations included indirect versus direct cost issues. CONCLUSION: Cost conversations have a minimal but favorable impact on decision-making outcomes in clinical encounters, particularly when they occurred in encounters aided by an SDM tool that raises cost as an issue.

Cost Conversations About Anticoagulation Between Patients With Atrial Fibrillation and Their Clinicians: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: How patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and their clinicians consider cost in forming care plans remains unknown. Objective: To identify factors that inform conversations regarding costs of anticoagulants for treatment of AF between patients and clinicians and outcomes associated with these conversations. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study of recorded encounters and participant surveys at 5 US medical centers (including academic, community, and safety-net centers) from the SDM4AFib randomized trial compared standard AF care with and without use of a shared decision-making (SDM) tool. Included patients were considering anticoagulation treatment and were recruited by their clinicians between January 30, 2017, and June 27, 2019. Data were analyzed between August and November 2019. Main Outcomes and Measures: The incidence of and factors associated with cost conversations, and the association of cost conversations with patients' consideration of treatment cost burden and their choice of anticoagulation. Results: A total of 830 encounters (out of 922 enrolled participants) were recorded. Patients' mean (SD) age was 71.0 (10.4) years; 511 patients (61.6%) were men, 704 (86.0%) were White, 303 (40.9%) earned between $40 000 and $99 999 in annual income, and 657 (79.2%) were receiving anticoagulants. Clinicians' mean (SD) age was 44.8 (13.2) years; 75 clinicians (53.2%) were men, and 111 (76%) practiced as physicians, with approximately half (69 [48.9%]) specializing in either internal medicine or cardiology. Cost conversations occurred in 639 encounters (77.0%) and were more likely in the SDM arm (378 [90%] vs 261 [64%]; OR, 9.69; 95% CI, 5.77-16.29). In multivariable analysis, cost conversations were more likely to occur with female clinicians (66 [47%]; OR, 2.85; 95% CI, 1.21-6.71); consultants vs in-training clinicians (113 [75%]; OR, 4.0; 95% CI, 1.4-11.1); clinicians practicing family medicine (24 [16%]; OR, 12.12; 95% CI, 2.75-53.38]), internal medicine (35 [23%]; OR, 3.82; 95% CI, 1.25-11.70), or other clinicians (21 [14%]; OR, 4.90; 95% CI, 1.32-18.16) when compared with cardiologists; and for patients with an annual household income between $40 000 and $99 999 (249 [82.2%]; OR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.05-3.29) compared with income below $40 000 or above $99 999. More patients who had cost conversations reported cost as a factor in their decision (244 [89.1%] vs 327 [69.0%]; OR 3.66; 95% CI, 2.43-5.50), but cost conversations were not associated with the choice of anticoagulation agent. Conclusions and Relevance: Cost conversations were common, particularly for middle-income patients and with female and consultant-level primary care clinicians, as well as in encounters using an SDM tool; they were associated with patients' consideration of treatment cost burden but not final treatment choice. With increasing costs of care passed on to patients, these findings can inform efforts to promote cost conversations in practice. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02905032.

Interventions supporting cost conversations between patients and clinicians: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Discussing cost during medical encounters may decrease the financial impact of medical care on patients and align their treatment plans with their financial capacities. We aimed to examine which interventions exist and quantify their effectiveness to support cost conversations. METHODS: Several databases were queried (Embase; Ovid MEDLINE(R); Epub Ahead of Print, In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations and Daily; the Cochrane databases; and Scopus) from their inception until January 31, 2020 using terms such as "clinician*", "patient*", "cost*", and "conversation*". Eligibility assessment, data extraction and risk of bias assessment were performed independently and in duplicate. We extracted study setting, design, intervention characteristics and outcomes related to patients, clinicians and quality metrics. RESULTS: We identified four studies (1327 patients) meeting our inclusion criteria. All studies were non-randomised and conducted in the United States. Three were performed in a primary care setting and the fourth in an oncology. Two studies used decision aids that included cost information; one used a training session for health care staff about cost conversations, and the other directly delivered information regarding cost conversations to patients. All interventions increased cost-conversation frequency. There was no effect on out-of-pocket costs, satisfaction, medication adherence or understanding of costs of care. CONCLUSION: The body of evidence is small and comprised of studies at high risk of bias. However, an increase in the frequency of cost conversations is consistent. Studies with higher quality are needed to ascertain the effects of these interventions on the acceptability, frequency and quality of cost conversations.

Comparative Effectiveness of Generic vs Brand-Name Levothyroxine in Achieving Normal Thyrotropin Levels.

Importance: Whether the use of generic vs brand levothyroxine affects thyrotropin levels remains unclear. Objective: To compare the effectiveness of generic vs brand levothyroxine in achieving and maintaining normal thyrotropin levels among new users. Design, Setting, and Participants: This retrospective, 1:1 propensity score-matched longitudinal cohort study used the OptumLabs Data Warehouse administrative claims database linked to laboratory results from commercially insured and Medicare Advantage enrollees throughout the United States. Eligible patients were adults (aged ≥18 years) with thyrotropin levels ranging from 4.5 to 19.9 mIU/L who initiated use of generic or brand-name levothyroxine from January 1, 2008, to October 1, 2017. Data were analyzed from August 13, 2018, to October 25, 2019. Exposure: Patients received generic or brand-name levothyroxine. Main Outcomes and Measures: Proportion of patients with normal vs markedly abnormal thyrotropin levels (<0.1 or >10 mIU/L) within 3 months and with stable thyrotropin levels within 3 months after the thyrotropin value fell into the normal range. Results: A total of 17 598 patients were included (69.0% female; 74.0% White; mean [SD] age, 55.1 [16.0] years), of whom 15 299 filled generic and 2299 filled brand-name levothyroxine prescriptions during the study period. Among 4570 propensity score-matched patients (mean [SD] age, 50.3 [13.8] years; 3457 [75.6%] female; 3510 [76.8%] White), the proportion with normal thyrotropin levels within 3 months of filling levothyroxine prescriptions was similar for patients who received generic vs brand-name levothyroxine (1722 [75.4%; 95% CI, 71.9%-79.0%] vs 1757 [76.9%; 95% CI, 73.4%-80.6%]; P = .23), as was the proportion with markedly abnormal levels (94 [4.1%; 95% CI, 3.4%-5.0%] vs 88 [3.9%; 95% CI, 3.1%-4.7%]; P = .65). Among 1034 propensity score-matched patients who achieved a normal thyrotropin value within 3 months of initiation of levothyroxine, the proportion maintaining subsequent normal thyrotropin levels during the next 3 months was similar for patients receiving generic vs brand-name levothyroxine (427 [82.6%] vs 433 [83.8%]; P = .62). Conclusions and Relevance: Initiation of generic vs brand-name levothyroxine formulations was associated with similar rates of normal and stable thyrotropin levels. These results suggest that generic levothyroxine as initial therapy for mild thyroid dysfunction is as effective as brand-name levothyroxine.

Assessment of Shared Decision-making for Stroke Prevention in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Shared decision-making (SDM) about anticoagulant treatment in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) is widely recommended but its effectiveness is unclear. Objective: To assess the extent to which the use of an SDM tool affects the quality of SDM and anticoagulant treatment decisions in at-risk patients with AF. Design, Setting, and Participants: This encounter-randomized trial recruited patients with nonvalvular AF who were considering starting or reviewing anticoagulant treatment and their clinicians at academic, community, and safety-net medical centers between January 30, 2017 and June 27, 2019. Encounters were randomized to either the standard care arm or care that included the use of an SDM tool (intervention arm). Data were analyzed from August 1 to November 30, 2019. Interventions: Standard care or care using the Anticoagulation Choice Shared Decision Making tool (which presents individualized risk estimates and compares anticoagulant treatment options across issues of importance to patients) during the clinical encounter. Main Outcomes and Measures: Quality of SDM (which included quality of communication, patient knowledge about AF and anticoagulant treatment, accuracy of patient estimates of their own stroke risk [within 30% of their estimate], decisional conflict, and satisfaction), decisions made during the encounter, duration of the encounter, and clinician involvement of patients in the SDM process. Results: The clinical trial enrolled 922 patients (559 men [60.6%]; mean [SD] age, 71 [11] years) and 244 clinicians. A total of 463 patients were randomized to the intervention arm and 459 patients to the standard care arm. Participants in both arms reported high communication quality, high knowledge, and low decisional conflict, demonstrated low accuracy in their risk perception, and would similarly recommend the approach used in their encounter. Clinicians were significantly more satisfied after intervention encounters (400 of 453 encounters [88.3%] vs 277 of 448 encounters [61.8%]; adjusted relative risk, 1.49; 95% CI, 1.42-1.53). A total of 747 of 873 patients (85.6%) chose to start or continue receiving an anticoagulant medication. Patient involvement in decision-making (as assessed through video recordings of the encounters using the Observing Patient Involvement in Decision Making 12-item scale) scores were significantly higher in the intervention arm (mean [SD] score, 33.0 [10.8] points vs 29.1 [13.1] points, respectively; adjusted mean difference, 4.2 points; 95% CI, 2.8-5.6 points). No significant between-arm difference was found in encounter duration (mean [SD] duration, 32 [16] minutes in the intervention arm vs 31 [17] minutes in the standard care arm; adjusted mean between-arm difference, 1.1; 95% CI, -0.3 to 2.5 minutes). Conclusion and Relevance: The use of an SDM encounter tool improved several measures of SDM quality and clinician satisfaction, with no significant effect on treatment decisions or encounter duration. These results help to calibrate expectations about the value of implementing SDM tools in the care of patients with AF. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02905032.

Using Shared Decision-Making Tools and Patient-Clinician Conversations About Costs.

OBJECTIVE: To determine how shared decision-making (SDM) tools used during clinical encounters that raise cost as an issue impact the incidence of cost conversations between patients and clinicians. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A randomly selected set of 220 video recordings of clinical encounters were analyzed. Videos were obtained from eight practice-based randomized clinical trials and one quasi-randomized clinical trial (pre- and post-) comparing care with and without SDM tools. The secondary analysis took place in 2018 from trials ran between 2007 and 2015. RESULTS: Most patient participants were white (85%), educated (38% completed college), middle-aged (mean age 56 years), and female (61%). There were 105 encounters with and 115 without the SDM tool. Encounters with SDM tools were more likely to include both general cost conversations (62% vs 36%, odds ratio [OR]: 9.6; 95% CI: 4 to 26) as well as conversations on medication costs specifically (89% vs 51%, P=.01). However, clinicians using SDM tools were less likely to address cost issues during the encounter (37% vs 51%, P=.04). Encounters with patients with less than a college degree were also associated with a higher incidence of cost conversations. CONCLUSION: Using SDM tools that raise cost as an issue increased the occurrence of cost conversations but was less likely to address cost issues or offer potential solutions to patients' cost concerns. This result suggests that SDM tools used during the consultation can trigger cost conversations but are insufficient to support them.

A Survey of American Thyroid Association Members Regarding the 2015 Adult Thyroid Nodule and Differentiated Thyroid Cancer Clinical Practice Guidelines.

Background: The 2015 American Thyroid Association (ATA) clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) on management of thyroid nodules (TNs) and differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) in adults were developed to inform clinicians, patients, researchers, and health policy makers about the best available evidence, and its limitations, relating to management of these conditions. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional electronic survey of ATA members' perspectives of these CPGs, using a standardized survey (Clinician Guidelines Determinant Questionnaire) developed by the Guidelines International Network. A survey link was electronically mailed to members in February of 2019, with reminders sent to nonrespondents 2 and 5 weeks later. Data were descriptively summarized, after excluding missing responses. Results: The overall response rate was 19.8% (348/1761). The effective response rate was 20.2% (348/1720), after excluding a recently deceased member and individuals who had either invalid e-mail addresses or whose e-mails were returned. Of the respondents, 37.9% (132/348) were female, 60.4% (209/346) were endocrinologists, 27.5% (95/346) were surgeons, and 3.5% (12/346) were nuclear medicine specialists. The majority of respondents (71.9%; 250/348) were at a mid- or advanced-career level, and more than half were in academia (57.5%; 195/339). The majority (69.8%; 243/348) practiced in North America. The vast majority of respondents indicated that the CPGs explained the underlying evidence (92.3%; 298/323) and 92.9% (300/323) agreed or strongly agreed with the content. Most respondents stated that they regularly used the CPGs in their practice (83.0%; 268/323). Most respondents (83.0%; 268/323) also agreed or strongly agreed that the recommendations were easy to incorporate in their practice. The most popular CPG format was an electronic desktop file (78.8%; 252/320). Shorter more frequent CPGs were favored by 55.0% (176/320) of respondents, and longer traditional CPGs were favored by 39.7% (127/320). Conclusions: The clinical content and evidence explanations in the adult TN and DTC CPGs are widely accepted and applied among ATA survey respondents. Future ATA CPG updates need to be optimized to best meet users' preferences regarding format, frequency, and length.

Variation in Treatment Practices for Subclinical Hypothyroidism in Pregnancy: US National Assessment.

CONTEXT: Although thyroid hormone replacement may improve outcomes in pregnant women with subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH), the extent to which they receive treatment is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To describe levothyroxine (LT4) treatment practices for pregnant women with SCH. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Large US administrative claims database. PARTICIPANTS: Pregnant women with SCH defined by untreated TSH 2.5 to 10 mIU/L. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Initiation of LT4 as a function of treating clinician specialty (endocrinology, obstetrics/gynecology, primary care, or other), baseline TSH, patient clinical and demographic factors, and US region. RESULTS: We identified 7990 pregnant women with SCH; only 1214 (15.2%) received LT4. Treatment was more likely in patients with higher TSH, obesity, recurrent pregnancy loss, thyroid disease, and cared for by endocrinologists. Proportion of treated women increased over time; LT4 treatment was twice as likely in 2014 as in 2010. Women in Northeast and West US were more likely to receive LT4 compared with other regions. Asian women were more likely, whereas Hispanic women were less likely, to receive LT4 compared with white women. Endocrinologists started LT4 at lower TSH thresholds than other specialties, and treated women who were more likely to have had recurrent pregnancy loss and thyroid disease than women treated by other clinicians. CONCLUSIONS: We found large variation in the prescription of LT4 to pregnant women with SCH, although most treatment-eligible women remained untreated. Therapy initiation is associated with geographic, clinician, and patient characteristics. This evidence can inform quality improvement efforts to optimize care for pregnant women with SCH.

Generic and Brand-Name Thyroid Hormone Drug Use Among Commercially Insured and Medicare Beneficiaries, 2007 Through 2016.

CONTEXT: Generic drugs account for 9 out of 10 prescriptions dispensed in the United States but for a lower proportion of commonly prescribed thyroid hormone replacement therapies. OBJECTIVE: Characterize temporal patterns of generic and brand-name thyroid hormone drug use, including patient and prescriber characteristics associated with brand-name use. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional longitudinal analysis of national data from a large administrative claims database from January 2007 through December 2016. PATIENTS: Adults with insurance coverage through commercial, Medicare Advantage, and Medicare Part D health plans. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Generic and brand-name thyroid hormone drug use. RESULTS: From 2007 to 2016, the annual number of thyroid hormone treatment pharmacy fills increased from 8,905,836 in 2007 to 11,613,923 in 2016, 73.6% of which were for generic levothyroxine, 23.4% for brand-name levothyroxine, and the remaining for other formulations. Dispensing of generic thyroid hormone drugs increased from 59.8% in 2007 to 84.9% in 2016 and was consistently higher among Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D when compared with the commercial beneficiary population. For all three beneficiary populations, use of brand-name products was less common among older adults and more common among women and those receiving prescriptions from endocrinologists and was more common among those of white race and with greater household income for the Medicare Advantage and commercial beneficiary populations (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Brand-name thyroid hormone product use declined from 2007 to 2016 among three large, national insurer beneficiary populations. Although certain patient characteristics were associated with brand-name use, prescriber specialty was the strongest predictor.

Developing tools to enhance the use of systematic reviews for clinical care in health systems.

We aimed to develop tools that can facilitate uptake of evidence summarised in systematic reviews by clinical decision makers in health systems. After conducting a systematic review on the management of anxiety in children, we interviewed health system representatives, clinicians and patients to ask about additional information needed for decision-making. Using stakeholders' feedback and literature searches for contextual and implementation information, we developed two tools (decision aids (DAs)), one for the health system and the second for the clinical encounter. This information mapped to factors of the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation) Evidence to Decision Framework. The health system DAs provided information on which patients are candidate for treatment, values and preferences, costs and resources, acceptability, impact on health equity, feasibility, drug dosing, alternative therapies, remission rates and prognosis. Health system stakeholders found the DA useful for clinical decision-making and generalisable to other conditions. The encounter DA was produced as cards containing information on issues that drive treatment decisions (effect on symptoms, effect on function, treatment burden, side effects and cost). Patients and parents prioritised the cards and chose the order in which these issues were discussed with clinician. The encounter DA was found to be helpful by patients, parents and clinicians. We conclude that the uptake of evidence summaries by health systems can be enhanced by developing tools that provide contextual and implementation information about clinical care. A dual approach addressing health system stakeholders as well as clinicians and patients is likely feasible and helpful.