Use and outcomes of antifibrinolytic therapy in patients undergoing cardiothoracic surgery at 20 academic medical centers in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Several clinical trials have shown an association between the use of aprotinin in cardiothoracic surgery (CTS) patients and an increased risk of adverse renal, cardiovascular, and cerebrovascular events. Other antifibrinolytic agents-aminocaproic acid (AA) and tranexamic acid (TA)-have not shown elevated risks. Using a large administrative data set, we sought to examine these findings. METHODS: In our observational database study of CTS patients who were discharged from 20 academic medical centers from October 2002 through September 2005, we assessed the use of antifibrinolytic therapy on select patient outcomes using descriptive and inferential statistics to compare the various groups. RESULTS: For the CTS patients, AA was used in 9,751 (15.5% of patients) and aprotinin was used in 6,855 (10.9% of patients). Only 17 patients from four hospitals received TA; therefore, TA was excluded from further analysis. A quarterly analysis showed a slow decline in the use of AA, with a gradual increase in the use of aprotinin over the study time period. Variation by hospital using each option was considerable (range, 0%-50%). Statistically significant differences in mortality rates (P < 0.001) occurred with AA (2.6%), aprotinin (5.2%), and control patients (n = 46,123), who did not use any antifibrinolytic agents (3.9%). Rates of acute renal failure were 6.2% with AA, 10.9% with aprotinin, and 6.1% in controls; hemodialysis rates were 2.8%, 6.4%, and 2.6%, respectively. Postoperative acute myocardial infarction occurred in only two cases of patients receiving AA, in none of those using aprotinin, and in 63 controls. CONCLUSION: Although the use of aprotinin has been increasing, compared with AA, the overall use of antifibrinolytic agents in patients undergoing CTS has remained relatively stable over a three-year period, at under 30%. Significant differences in patient outcomes were observed between the two treatment groups. Given the growing body of evidence for the use of antifibrinolytic therapy, hospitals might be best served by examining existing patterns of use and by instituting restrictions of aprotinin for patients facing an increased risk for bleeding during CTS.

Parkinson's disease and Parkinson's disease psychosis: a perspective on the challenges, treatments, and economic burden.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease associated with a decrease in the neurotransmitter dopamine and characterized by the cardinal motor hallmarks of resting tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia/akinesia, and postural instability. Lesser-known features of PD revolve around nonmotor concerns including psychosis, dementia, sleep disturbances, autonomic dysfunction, and sensory abnormalities. Parkinson's disease psychosis (PDP) contributes significantly to morbidity, mortality, nursing home placement, and quality of life (QOL). PDP management suffers from a lack of safe, effective pharmacological agents and the opposing nature of atypical antipsychotics and dopaminergic therapies. Pimavanserin, the only atypical antipsychotic currently approved by the FDA for treating PDP-related hallucinations and delusions, has no appreciable affinity for dopaminergic receptors, and a controlled clinical study demonstrated its efficacy in treating PDP-associated hallucinations and delusions without affecting motor function. A recent analysis of all health resource utilization (HRU) and total costs attributable to PD and PDP found that mean 12-month HRU services per patient were 2.3 times higher and costs were 2.1 times higher in the PDP cases, while falls were 3.4 times higher and fractures 2.3 times higher, respectively. Products or services that prevent, delay, or lessen the severity of PDP may contribute to reduced healthcare system costs and improve the QOL of patients with PDP and of their caregivers.

Evaluating Outcomes in Patients with Overactive Bladder within an Integrated Healthcare Delivery System Using a Treatment Patterns Analyzer.

BACKGROUND: Overactive bladder (OAB) is a relatively common disease that has been linked to a variety of comorbidities, reductions in quality of life, and increased healthcare costs. Antimuscarinic agents are the standard of care among pharmacologic treatments for OAB, but these drugs are linked to high levels of anticholinergic burden, especially in the elderly. OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate how efficient data analysis can be used to identify gaps in care as a result of improvement strategies for OAB within an integrated healthcare delivery system setting. METHODS: We developed an OAB treatment patterns analyzer, a clinical outcomes software analysis program, to identify gaps in care, high anticholinergic burden, and potential quality improvement initiatives. Deidentified pharmacy and medical claims data from an integrated delivery network were imported into the OAB treatment patterns analyzer. Patients with a diagnosis of OAB who were continuously enrolled in the network between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2013, were identified and were imported into the analyzer. The analyzer used National Drug Code; International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Edition, Clinical Modification; Current Procedural Terminology; and UB-92 codes to measure treatment patterns, comorbid conditions, anticholinergic burden, concomitant use with anticholinesterases, costs, and healthcare resource utilization. RESULTS: Of 157,710 members in the integrated delivery network population, 7309 patients met the study eligibility criteria. Of patients taking medications for OAB, 85% were nonadherent and 73% discontinued treatment within 1 year. Among 1147 patients in the integrated healthcare delivery system who were using medications for OAB, 39 (3.4%) patients were concomitantly taking anticholinesterase drugs and an antimuscarinic agent. The per-month plan-paid cost per member was $318.67. Of all the patients with OAB within the population, the rates of all-cause office visits, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations were 81%, 6%, and 4%, respectively. The rate of clinically relevant anticholinergic burden was 16%, with higher rates among patients with dementia who were also receiving a branded (20%) or generic (24%) antimuscarinic drug. CONCLUSION: In patients using medications for the treatment of OAB, the rates of medication persistence and adherence were poor. Antimuscarinic medications may place certain patient populations at risk for increased anticholinergic burden. Data included in the analyzer can be used to implement member-specific strategies to prevent poor outcomes and reduce associated healthcare costs and utilization.

Using an Electronic Medication Refill System to Improve Provider Productivity in an Accountable Care Setting.

BACKGROUND: Even within fully integrated health care systems, primary care providers (PCPs) often lack support for medication management. Because challenges with conducting medication reconciliation, improving adherence, and achieving optimal patient outcomes continue to be prevalent nationally, it is critical that PCPs are provided the resources and support they need to provide high-quality, patient-centered care in an accountable care environment. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group uses a fully electronic medication refill system that allows for a centralized team to manage all incoming requests. Over time, 16 disease-specific protocols were created that allowed the pharmacy team to absorb approximately 80% of incoming refill requests for all enrolled PCPs. The refill clinic assessed all clinic information that a PCP would normally review in order to approve a refill. Tasks performed by the clinical pharmacists included medication reconciliation, dosage adjustment, and coordination of distribution from external mail order and retail pharmacies. OBSERVATIONS: In 2014, the number of tasks related to refill management reviewed by the refill/medication therapy management service totaled 302,592, resulting in 140,350 refill authorizations and multiple interventions related to medication use. Physicians have estimated that the service provides between 20 and 30 minutes of time savings per day. Assuming an annual PCP salary of around $200,000, 20 to 30 minutes per day would amount to $33 to $50 saved per day per physician. The savings is even higher when time savings from other clinical staff is included. IMPLICATIONS: The development of this electronic medication refill service has provided the following important lessons: (a) organizations rely on a leader or champion to push through process reforms--this program started with reluctant physicians first to determine best practices; (b) the lack of clinical pharmacist profiles within electronic health records (EHR) is a serious concern, since the creation of these profiles may not be easy or timely; and (c) PCPs working within an EHR environment will quickly embrace the idea of a service that can save them up to 30 minutes per day. With PCPs continuing to take on additional population health management tasks in accountable care organizations, pharmacists can provide workload offsets by meaningfully contributing to medication-related care.

Optimizing prevention of hospital-acquired venous thromboembolism (VTE): prospective validation of a VTE risk assessment model.

BACKGROUND: Hospital-acquired (HA) venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common source of morbidity/mortality. Prophylactic measures are underutilized. Available risk assessment models/protocols are not prospectively validated. OBJECTIVES: Improve VTE prophylaxis, reduce HA VTE, and prospectively validate a VTE risk-assessment model. DESIGN: Observational design. SETTING: Academic medical center. PATIENTS: Adult inpatients on medical/surgical services. INTERVENTIONS: A simple VTE risk assessment linked to a menu of preferred VTE prophylaxis methods, embedded in order sets. Education, audit/feedback, and concurrent identification of nonadherence. MEASUREMENTS: Randomly sampled inpatient audits determined the percent of patients with "adequate" VTE prevention. HA VTE cases were identified concurrently via digital imaging system. Interobserver agreement for VTE risk level and judgment of adequate prophylaxis were calculated from 150 random audits. RESULTS: Interobserver agreement with 5 observers was high (kappa score for VTE risk level = 0.81, and for judgment of "adequate" prophylaxis = 0.90). The percent of patients on adequate prophylaxis improved each of the 3 years (58%, 78%, and 93%; P < 0.001) and reached 98% in the last 6 months of 2007; 361 cases of HA VTE occurred over 3 years. Significant reductions for the risk of HA VTE (risk ratio [RR] = 0.69; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.47-0.79) and preventable HA VTE (RR = 0.14; 95% CI = 0.06-0.31) occurred. We detected no increase in heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) or prophylaxis-related bleeding using administrative data/chart review. CONCLUSIONS: We prospectively validated a VTE risk-assessment/prevention protocol by demonstrating ease of use, good interobserver agreement, and effectiveness. Improved VTE prophylaxis resulted in a substantial reduction in HA VTE.