Evaluation of a Diabetes Self-Management Program: Claims Analysis on Comorbid Illnesses, Health Care Utilization, and Cost.

BACKGROUND: An estimated 30.3 million Americans have diabetes mellitus. The US Department of Health and Human Services created national objectives via its Healthy People 2020 initiative to improve the quality of life for people who either have or are at risk for diabetes mellitus, and hence, lower the personal and national economic burden of this debilitating chronic disease. Diabetes self-management education interventions are a primary focus of this initiative. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the Better Choices Better Health Diabetes (BCBH-D) self-management program on comorbid illness related to diabetes mellitus, health care utilization, and cost. METHODS: A propensity score matched two-group, pre-post design was used for this study. Retrospective administrative medical and pharmacy claims data from the HealthCore Integrated Research Environment were used for outcome variables. The intervention cohort included diabetes mellitus patients who were recruited to a diabetes self-management program. Control cohort subjects were identified from the HealthCore Integrated Research Environment by at least two diabetes-associated claims (International Classification of Diseases-Ninth Revision, ICD-9 250.xx) within 2 years before the program launch date (October 1, 2011-September 30, 2013) but did not participate in BCBH-D. Controls were matched to cases in a 3:1 propensity score match. Outcome measures included pre- and postintervention all-cause and diabetes-related utilization and costs. Cost outcomes are reported as least squares means. Repeated measures analyses (generalized estimating equation approach) were conducted for utilization, comorbid conditions, and costs. RESULTS: The program participants who were identified in HealthCore Integrated Research Environment claims (N=558) were matched to a control cohort of 1669 patients. Following the intervention, the self-management cohort experienced significant reductions for diabetes mellitus-associated comorbid conditions, with the postintervention disease burden being significantly lower (mean 1.6 [SD 1.6]) compared with the control cohort (mean 2.1 [SD 1.7]; P=.001). Postintervention all-cause utilization was decreased in the intervention cohort compared with controls with -40/1000 emergency department visits vs +70/1000; P=.004 and -5780 outpatient visits per 1000 vs -290/1000; P=.001. Unadjusted total all-cause medical cost was decreased by US $2207 in the intervention cohort compared with a US $338 decrease in the controls; P=.001. After adjustment for other variables through structural equation analysis, the direct effect of the BCBH-D was -US $815 (P=.049). CONCLUSIONS: Patients in the BCBH-D program experienced reduced all-cause health care utilization and costs. Direct cost savings were US $815. Although encouraging, given the complexity of the patient population, further study is needed to cross-validate the results.

Benefits of Diabetes Self-Management for Health Plan Members: A 6-Month Translation Study.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes self-management education has been shown to be effective in controlled trials. However, few programs that meet American Association of Diabetes Educators standards have been translated into widespread practice. OBJECTIVE: This study examined the translation of the evidence-based Better Choices, Better Health-Diabetes program in both Internet and face-to-face versions. METHODS: We administered the Internet program nationally in the United States (n=1010). We conducted face-to-face workshops in Atlanta, Georgia; Indianapolis, Indiana; and St. Louis, Missouri (n=232). Self-report questionnaires collected health indicator, health behavior, and health care utilization measures. Questionnaires were administered on the Web or by mail. We determined hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) from blood samples collected via mailed kits. Paired t tests determined whether changes between baseline and 6 months differed significantly from no change. Subgroup analyses determined whether participants with specific conditions benefited (high HbA1c, depression, hypoglycemia, nonadherence to medication taking, and no aerobic exercise). We calculated the percentage of participants with improvements of at least 0.4 effect size in at least one of the 5 above measures. RESULTS: Of the 1242 participants, 884 provided 6-month follow-up questionnaires. There were statistically significant improvements in 6 of 7 health indicators (including HbA1c) and in 7 of 7 behaviors. For each of the 5 conditions, there were significant improvements among those with the condition (effect sizes 0.59-1.1). A total of 662 (75.0%) of study participants improved at least 0.4 effect size in at least one criterion, and 327 (37.1%) improved in 2 or more. CONCLUSIONS: The Diabetes Self-Management Program, offered in two modes, was successfully disseminated to a heterogeneous national population of members of either insured or administered health plans. Participants had small but significant benefits in multiple measures. The program appears effective in improving diabetes management.

A Diabetes Self-Management Program: 12-Month Outcome Sustainability From a Nonreinforced Pragmatic Trial.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes self-management education has been shown to be effective in controlled trials. The 6-week Better Choices, Better Health-Diabetes (BCBH-D) self-management program was also associated with an improvement in health outcomes in a 6-month translation study. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine whether a national translation of the BCBH-D self-management program, offered both Web-based and face-to-face, was associated with improvements in health outcomes (including HbA1c) and health behaviors (including recommended medical tests) 1 year after intervention. METHODS: Web-based programs were administered nationally, whereas face-to-face workshops took place in Atlanta, Indianapolis, and St Louis. Self-report questionnaires were either Web-based or administered by mail, at baseline and 1 year, and collected health and health-behavior measures. HbA1c blood samples were collected via mailed kits. A previous 6-month study found statistically significant improvements in 13 of 14 outcome measures, including HbA1c. For this study, paired t test compared baseline with 1-year outcomes. Subgroup analyses determined whether participants with specific conditions improved (high HbA1c, depression, hypoglycemia, nonadherence to medication, no aerobic exercise). The percentage of participants with improvements in effect size of at least 0.4 in at least 1 of the 5 measures was calculated. RESULTS: A total of 857 participants with 1-year data (69.7% of baseline participants) demonstrated statistically significant 1-year improvements in 13 of 15 outcome measures; 79.9% (685/857) of participants showed improvements in effect size of 0.4 or greater in at least 1 of the 5 criterial measures. CONCLUSIONS: Participants had small but significant benefits in multiple measures. Improvements previously noted at 6 months were maintained or amplified at 1 year.

Overlap of Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Patients in the United States: Analysis of Prevalence, Features, and Subtypes.

BACKGROUND: Although asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are clinically distinct diseases, they represent biologically diverse and overlapping clinical entities and it has been observed that they often co-occur. Some research and theorizing suggest there is a common comorbid condition termed asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease overlap (ACO). However, the existence of ACO is controversial. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to describe patient characteristics and estimate prevalence, health care utilization, and costs of ACO using claims-based diagnoses confirmed with medical record information. METHODS: Eligible patients were commercial US health plan enrollees; ≥40 years; had asthma, COPD, or ACO; ≥3 prescription fills for asthma/COPD medications; and ≥2 spirometry tests. Records for a random sample of 5000 patients with ACO were reviewed to validate claims-based diagnoses. RESULTS: The estimated ACO prevalence was 6% (estimated 10,250/183,521) among 183,521 full study patients. In the claims-based cohorts, the comorbidity burden for ACO was greater versus asthma but similar to COPD cohorts. Medication utilization was higher in ACO versus asthma and COPD. Mean total health care costs were significantly higher for ACO versus asthma but similar to COPD. In confirmed diagnoses cohorts, mean total health care costs (medical plus pharmacy) were lower for ACO versus COPD but similar to asthma (US $20,035; P=.56). Among confirmed cases, where there was medical record evidence, smoking history was higher in ACO (300/343, 87.5%) versus asthma cohorts (100/181, 55.2%) but similar to COPD (68/84, 81%). CONCLUSIONS: ACO had more comorbidities, medication utilization, and costs than patients with asthma or COPD but differences were not seen after confirmation with medical records.

Brain metastases in non-small cell lung cancer patients on epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors: symptom and economic burden.

OBJECTIVE: This study describes the symptom and economic burden associated with brain metastases (BM) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs). METHODS: This retrospective study included adults with ≥2 medical claims, within 90 days, for lung cancer and ≥1 administration of EGFR-TKIs. Based on ICD-9 codes, patients were stratified into cohorts by type of metastases (BM, other metastases [OM], or no metastases [NM]), and by when the metastasis diagnosis occurred (synchronous or asynchronous). RESULTS: The population (synchronous BM [SBM] = 24, synchronous OM [SOM] = 23, asynchronous BM [ASBM] = 15, asynchronous OM [ASOM] = 49, NM = 85) was mostly female (57%), average age 69 years (SD = 11). SBM patients experienced more fatigue and nausea/vomiting compared with SOM and NM patients and more headaches and loss of appetite than NM patients. ASBM was associated with more fatigue, nausea/vomiting, headaches, pain/numbness, altered mental status, and seizures than NM, and more headaches and pain/numbness than ASOM. SBM patients experienced a greater increase in per-member-per-month all-cause total healthcare costs after diagnosis ($20,301) vs SOM ($9,131, p = .001) and NM ($2,493, p = .001). ASBM's cost increase between baseline and follow-up ($7,867) did not differ from ASOM's ($4,947, p = .195); both were larger than NM ($2,493, p = .001 and p = .009, respectively). LIMITATIONS: EGFR mutation status was inferred based on EGFR-TKI treatment, not by molecular testing. Patients were from US commercial insurance plans; results may not be generalizable to other populations. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with EGFR-TKI-treated NSCLC, patients with BM experienced more symptoms and, when diagnosed synchronously, had significant increases in total medical costs vs patients with OM and NM. Therapeutic options with central nervous system activity may offer advantages in symptomatology and costs in EGFR-mutated patients with BM.

Validation of a Case-Finding Algorithm for Identifying Patients with Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) in Administrative Claims Databases.

Objective: To assess the validity of a treatments- and tests-based Case-Finding Algorithm for identifying patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) from claims databases. Data sources: Primary data from the HealthCore Integrated Research Environment (HIRE)-Oncology database and the HealthCore Integrated Research Database (HIRD) were collected between June 1, 2014, and October 31, 2015. Study design: A comparative statistical evaluation using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and other validity measures was used to validate the NSCLC Case-Finding Algorithm vs. a control algorithm. Data collection: Patients with lung cancer were identified based on diagnosis and pathology classifications as NSCLC or small-cell lung cancer. Records from identified patients were linked to claims data from Anthem health plans. Three-month pre-index and post-index data were included. Principal findings: The NSCLC Case-Finding Algorithm had an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.88 compared with 0.53 in the control (p < 0.0001). Promising diagnostic accuracy was observed for the NSCLC Case-Finding Algorithm based on sensitivity (94.8%), specificity (81.1%), positive predictive value (PPV) (95.3%), negative predictive value (NPV) (79.6%), accuracy (92.1%), and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) (78.8). Conclusions: The NSCLC Case-Finding Algorithm demonstrated strong validity for distinguishing patients with NSCLC from those with SCLC in claims data records and can be used for research into NSCLC populations.

Assessment of Outpatient and Inpatient Antibiotic Treatment Patterns and Health Care Costs of Patients with Complicated Urinary Tract Infections.

PURPOSE: The goal of this study was to examine treatment patterns, utilization, and costs for complicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) requiring inpatient/emergency department (ED) and outpatient care. METHODS: This observational study evaluated inpatient/ED-treated and outpatient-treated patients (aged ≥18 years) with complicated UTIs from 2 large US administrative claims databases (HealthCore Integrated Research Environment and Premier Perspective Database). Patient identification depended on treatment setting: outpatients had 2 UTI diagnosis-related office visits and 2 claims for different antibiotics within 30 days, and inpatients had a UTI-related hospitalization/ED visit after 1 UTI diagnosis-related office visit plus 2 claims for different antibiotics within 30 days. The index date for outpatients was the date of the first office visit; for inpatients, it was the date of admission/ED visit. Both cohorts had continuous insurance eligibility. Outcomes were assessed by using univariate and multivariate statistics. FINDINGS: The study sample included 1118 inpatient/ED patients (76.6% female subjects; mean age, 62.4 years) and 41,605 outpatients (85.8% female subjects; mean age, 52.3 years). Mean (SD) pharmacy costs were $2971 ($7650) for inpatient/ED patients and $1882 ($3120) for outpatients during the full treatment period. Index hospitalization/ED averaged $38,422 ($51,161). Mean all-cause 90-day follow-up costs for the inpatient/ED cohort were $34,100 ($71,621) and $11,345 ($34,313) for the outpatient cohort. IMPLICATIONS: Relative to outpatient-treated patients, inpatient/ED-treated patients were older, sicker, had higher costs across treatment periods, and had reduced antibiotic use at a lower rate during the 90-day follow-up. Strategies to avoid preventable inpatient/ED visits may help reduce costs in the management of outpatients with complicated UTIs.

The changing role of ancillary health care service providers: an evaluation of Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc.

In an effort to reduce cost and improve quality, health care payers have enacted a number of incentives to motivate providers to focus their efforts on achieving better clinical outcomes and reducing the prevalence and progression of disease. In response to these incentives, providers are entering into new arrangements such as accountable care organizations and patient-centered medical homes to redesign delivery processes and achieve quality and cost objectives. This article reports the results of a study designed to evaluate the impact on cost and quality of care resulting from services provided by Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc., a clinical laboratory with a comprehensive care model. The results show that patients who utilized these laboratory services experienced lower total cost of care (23% reduction, P<0.01) and improved lipid profiles during the follow-up period. Total cost reductions were related to cost reductions found in both inpatient and ambulatory care. These findings suggest that accountable care organizations, patient-centered medical homes, and other groups entering shared savings initiatives should consider the potential role ancillary service providers with comprehensive care models can play in the delivery of integrated care.

Treating adolescent drug abuse: a randomized trial comparing multidimensional family therapy and cognitive behavior therapy.

AIM: To examine the efficacy of two adolescent drug abuse treatments: individual cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and multidimensional family therapy (MDFT). DESIGN: A 2 (treatment condition) x 4 (time) repeated-measures intent-to-treat randomized design. Data were gathered at baseline, termination, 6 and 12 months post-termination. Analyses used latent growth curve modeling. SETTING: Community-based drug abuse clinic in the northeastern United States. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 224 youth, primarily male (81%), African American (72%), from low-income single-parent homes (58%) with an average age of 15 years were recruited into the study. All youth were drug users, with 75% meeting DSM-IV criteria for cannabis dependence and 13% meeting criteria for abuse. MEASUREMENTS: Five outcomes were measured: (i) substance use problem severity; (ii) 30-day frequency of cannabis use; (iii) 30-day frequency of alcohol use; (iv) 30-day frequency of other drug use; and (v) 30-day abstinence. FINDINGS: Both treatments produced significant decreases in cannabis consumption and slightly significant reductions in alcohol use, but there were no treatment differences in reducing frequency of cannabis and alcohol use. Significant treatment effects were found favoring MDFT on substance use problem severity, other drug use and minimal use (zero or one occasion of use) of all substances, and these effects continued to 12 months following treatment termination. CONCLUSION: Both interventions are promising treatments. Consistent with previous controlled trials, MDFT is distinguished by the sustainability of treatment effects.