Assessing the economic burden of Alzheimer's disease patients first diagnosed by specialists.

BACKGROUND: It is not known if there is a differential impact on Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis and outcomes if/when patients are diagnosed with cognitive decline by specialists versus non-specialists. This study examined the cost trajectories of Medicare beneficiaries initially diagnosed by specialists compared to similar patients who received their diagnosis in primary care settings. METHODS: Patients with ≥2 claims for AD were selected from de-identified administrative claims data for US Medicare beneficiaries (5 % random sample). The earliest observed diagnosis of cognitive decline served as the index date. Patients were required to have continuous Medicare coverage for ≥12 months pre-index (baseline) and ≥12 months following the first AD diagnosis, allowing for up to 3 years from index to AD diagnosis. Time from index date to AD diagnosis was compared between those diagnosed by specialists (i.e., neurologist, psychiatrist, or geriatrician) versus non-specialists using Kaplan-Meier analyses with log-rank tests. Patient demographics, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) during baseline, and annual all-cause medical costs (reimbursed by Medicare) in baseline and follow-up periods were compared across propensity-score matched cohorts. RESULTS: Patients first diagnosed with cognitive decline by specialists (n = 2593) were younger (78.8 versus 80.8 years old), more likely to be male (40 % versus 34 %), and had higher CCI scores and higher medical costs at baseline than those diagnosed by non-specialists (n = 13,961). However, patients diagnosed by specialists had a significantly shorter time to AD diagnosis, both before and after matching (mean [after matching]: 3.5 versus 4.6 months, p < 0.0001). In addition, patients diagnosed by specialists had significantly lower average total all-cause medical costs in the first 12 months after their index date, a finding that persisted after matching ($19,824 versus $25,863, p < 0.0001). Total per-patient annual medical costs were similar for the two groups starting in the second year post-index. CONCLUSIONS: Before and after matching, patients diagnosed by a specialist had a shorter time to AD diagnosis and incurred lower costs in the year following the initial cognitive decline diagnosis. Differences in costs converged during subsequent years. This suggests that seeking care from specialists may yield more timely diagnosis, appropriate care and reduced costs among those with cognitive decline.

Impact of a Telehealth and Care Management Program on All-Cause Mortality and Healthcare Utilization in Patients with Heart Failure.

BACKGROUND: Telehealth has the potential to improve chronic disease management and outcomes, but data regarding direct benefit of telehealth in patients with heart failure (HF) have been mixed. The objective of this study was to determine whether the Health Buddy Program (HBP) (Bosch Healthcare, Palo Alto, CA), a content-driven telehealth system coupled with care management, is associated with improved outcomes in Medicare beneficiaries with HF. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study of 623 Medicare beneficiaries with HF offered HBP enrollment compared with a propensity score-matched control group of Medicare beneficiaries with HF from the Medicare 5% sample. Associations between availability of the HBP and all-cause mortality, hospitalization, hospital days, and emergency department visits were evaluated. RESULTS: Beneficiaries offered enrollment in the HBP had 24.9% lower risk-adjusted all-cause mortality over 3 years of follow-up (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.75; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.63-0.89; p = 0.001). Patients who used the HBP at least once (36.9%) had 57.2% lower mortality compared with matched controls (HR = 0.43; 95% CI, 0.31-0.60; p < 0.001), whereas patients who did not use the HBP had no significant difference in survival (HR = 0.96; 95% CI, 0.78-1.19; p = 0.69). Patients offered the HBP also had fewer hospital admissions following enrollment (Δ = -0.05 admissions/quarter; p = 0.011), which was primarily observed in patients who used the HBP at least once (Δ = -0.10 admissions/quarter; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The HBP, a content-driven telehealth system coupled with care management, was associated with significantly better survival and reduced hospitalization in Medicare beneficiaries with HF. Prospective study is warranted to determine the mechanism of this association and opportunities for optimization.

The Burden of Undiagnosed Opioid Abuse Among Commercially Insured Individuals.

OBJECTIVES: Estimate the prevalence and healthcare costs of undiagnosed opioid abuse among commercially insured individuals. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of de-identified pharmacy and medical claims data and publicly-available survey data (no IRB approval required). METHODS: This study focused on commercially insured individuals. Rates of prescription pain-reliever abuse/dependence ("abuse") among individuals ages ≥12 were calculated using National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) public-use data for 2006-2011 and assumed to capture both diagnosed and undiagnosed opioid abuse. Rates of undiagnosed opioid abuse were calculated as the difference between NSDUH rates and published rates of diagnosed opioid abuse. OptumHealth Reporting and Insights claims data were used to estimate the healthcare costs of undiagnosed abuse. Diagnosed abusers ages 12-64 were identified using ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes for opioid abuse/dependence. Pre-diagnosis costs were assumed to be a proxy for undiagnosed opioid abuse costs. The ratio of undiagnosed to diagnosed abuse costs was calculated as the ratio of annual per-patient healthcare costs between pre-diagnosis and post-diagnosis periods. RESULTS: While rates of diagnosed opioid abuse among commercially insured individuals increased from 0.07% in 2006 to 0.19% in 2011, rates of undiagnosed abuse decreased from 0.42% to 0.38% over the same time period. Annual per-patient healthcare costs of undiagnosed abusers were 69.2% of those of diagnosed abusers. CONCLUSIONS: Per-patient healthcare costs of undiagnosed abusers among the commercially insured are estimated to be lower than those of diagnosed abusers. However, the higher prevalence of undiagnosed opioid abuse implies that undiagnosed abuse represents a substantial burden to commercial payers.

Medical costs of Alzheimer's disease misdiagnosis among US Medicare beneficiaries.

INTRODUCTION: Recent developments in diagnostic technology can support earlier, more accurate diagnosis of non-Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementias. METHODS: To evaluate potential economic benefits of early rule-out of AD, annual medical resource use and costs for Medicare beneficiaries potentially misdiagnosed with AD prior to their diagnosis of vascular dementia (VD) or Parkinson's disease (PD) were compared with that of similar patients never diagnosed with AD. RESULTS: Patients with prior AD diagnosis used substantially more medical services every year until their VD/PD diagnosis, resulting in incremental annual medical costs of approximately $9,500-$14,000. However, following their corrected diagnosis, medical costs converged with those of patients never diagnosed with AD. DISCUSSION: The observed correlation between timing of correct diagnosis and subsequent reversal in excess costs is strongly suggestive of the role of misdiagnosis of AD - rather than AD comorbidity - in this patient population. Our findings suggest potential benefits from earlier, accurate diagnosis.

Duloxetine use in employees with low back pain: treatment patterns and direct and indirect costs.

OBJECTIVE: The study aims to examine real-world effects of duloxetine treatment for low back pain (LBP). METHODS: The study identified employees with ≥1 LBP diagnosis and ≥1 duloxetine prescription within a year after LBP diagnosis from a privately insured claims database (2004-2007). Duloxetine-treated employees were propensity score matched to employees initiating another pharmacological/noninvasive treatment in the same month from LBP diagnosis. Treatment patterns and costs were compared over the 6 months following treatment initiation. RESULTS: Relative to controls, duloxetine-treated employees (N = 753) had significantly lower rates of other pharmacological/noninvasive therapies and a similar LBP surgery rate (1.7% vs 2.8%, P = 0.1573). Duloxetine-treated employees, despite higher pharmacy costs, had similar direct (health care) costs ($4,935 vs $5,649, P = 0.2662), and significantly lower indirect (workloss) costs ($1,723 vs $2,198, P = 0.0036). CONCLUSIONS: Duloxetine treatment in LBP employees was associated with reduced rates of many nonsurgical therapies and lower indirect costs. The findings are limited by the observational study design and unmeasured potential confounders.

Implications of early treatment among Medicaid patients with Alzheimer's disease.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to examine the effect of treatment timing on risk of institutionalization of Medicaid patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and to estimate the economic implications of earlier diagnosis and treatment initiation. METHODS: New Jersey Medicaid claims data (1997-2009) were used retrospectively to study the effect of treatment on time to institutionalization. Observed Medicaid payments were used to calculate savings from delayed institutionalization, adjusting for cost offsets resulting from concurrent changes in use of other medical services. RESULTS: Initiation of existing therapies at earliest symptomatic onset is predicted to delay institutionalization by 91 days, reducing Medicaid costs by $19,108/institutionalized patient. Incorporating an 18.5% cost offset from increased use of other medical services as well as drug costs associated with earlier treatment results in net savings of $12,687/patient. Projected annual Medicaid savings exceed $1 billion. CONCLUSION: Earlier treatment leads to a small delay in institutionalization among AD patients, resulting in significant costs savings to Medicaid.

An economic model of Parkinson's disease: implications for slowing progression in the United States.

Multiple studies describe progression, dementia rates, direct and indirect costs, and health utility by Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y) stage, but research has not incorporated these data into a model to evaluate possible economic consequences of slowing progression. This study aimed to model the course of Parkinson's disease (PD) and describe the economic consequences of slower rates of progression. A Markov model was developed to show the net monetary benefits of slower rates of progression. Four scenarios assuming hypothetical slower rates of progression were compared to a base case scenario. A systematic literature review identified published longitudinal H&Y progression rates. Direct and indirect excess costs (i.e., healthcare costs beyond what similar patients without PD would incur), mortality rates, dementia rates, and health utility were derived from the literature. Ten publications (N = 3,318) were used to model longitudinal H&Y progression. Base case results indicate average excess direct costs of $303,754, life-years of 12.8 years and quality-adjusted life-years of 6.96. A scenario where PD progressed 20% slower than the base case resulted in net monetary benefits of $60,657 ($75,891 including lost income) per patient. The net monetary benefit comes from a $37,927 decrease in direct medical costs, 0.45 increase in quality-adjusted life-years, and $15,235 decrease in lost income. The scenario where PD progression was arrested resulted in net monetary benefits of $442,429 per patient. Reducing progression rates could produce significant economic benefit. This benefit is strongly dependent on the degree to which progression is slowed.

Effect of asthma exacerbations on health care costs among asthmatic patients with moderate and severe persistent asthma.

BACKGROUND: Health care costs increase in patients with more severe asthma, but the effect of asthma exacerbations on costs among patients with more severe asthma has not been quantified. OBJECTIVE: This study compared direct health care costs between patients with moderate/severe persistent asthma with and without exacerbations. METHODS: Patients who had an asthma diagnosis (International Classification of Diseases-ninth revision-Clinical Modification code 493.x), were 12 to 64 years old, and were receiving controller therapy were identified from a large administrative claims database. Patients were categorized as having moderate/severe persistent asthma and were further evaluated for exacerbations during a 12-month exacerbation identification period. Patients with 1 or more exacerbations (asthma-related inpatient or emergency department visit or corticosteroid prescription) were matched to patients without exacerbations on demographic characteristics and asthma severity. Total and asthma-related health care costs during the 1-year study period after the exacerbation index date were calculated. RESULTS: Patients with exacerbations had significantly higher total health care costs ($9223 vs $5011, P < .0001) and asthma-related costs ($1740 vs $847, P < .0001). The cost differences remained significant after controlling for patient differences by using multivariate models. Patients with exacerbations (n = 3830) had higher rates of sinusitis, allergy-related diagnoses or medications, pneumonia, and mental disorders and higher average Charlson Comorbidity Index scores at baseline. Patients with exacerbations filled their prescriptions for controllers more often and had higher asthma-related drug costs. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with moderate/severe persistent asthma who had exacerbations had higher total and asthma-related health care costs than those without exacerbations. Moreover, controller medication use was higher in patients with exacerbations.

A model to identify patients at risk for prescription opioid abuse, dependence, and misuse.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to use administrative claims data to identify and analyze patient characteristics and behavior associated with diagnosed opioid abuse. DESIGN: Patients, aged 12-64 years, with at least one prescription opioid claim during 2007-2009 (n = 821,916) were selected from a de-identified administrative claims database of privately insured members (n = 8,316,665). Patients were divided into two mutually exclusive groups: those diagnosed with opioid abuse during 1999-2009 (n = 6,380) and those without a diagnosis for opioid abuse (n = 815,536). A logistic regression model was developed to estimate the association between an opioid abuse diagnosis and patient characteristics, including patient demographics, prescription drug use and filling behavior, comorbidities, medical resource use, and family member characteristics. Sensitivity analyses were conducted on the model's predictive power. RESULTS: In addition to demographic factors associated with abuse (e.g., male gender), the following were identified as "key characteristics" (i.e., odds ratio [OR] > 2): prior opioid prescriptions (OR = 2.23 for 1-5 prior Rxs; OR = 6.85 for 6+ prior Rxs); at least one prior prescription of buprenorphine (OR = 51.75) or methadone (OR = 2.97); at least one diagnosis of non-opioid drug abuse (OR = 9.89), mental illness (OR = 2.45), or hepatitis (OR = 2.36); and having a family member diagnosed with opioid abuse (OR = 3.01). CONCLUSIONS: Using medical as well as drug claims data, it is feasible to develop models that could assist payers in identifying patients who exhibit characteristics associated with increased risk for opioid abuse. These models incorporate medical information beyond that available to prescription drug monitoring programs that are reliant on drug claims data and can be an important tool to identify potentially inappropriate opioid use.

Real-world role of tricyclic antidepressants in the treatment of fibromyalgia.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the real-world role of tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) in fibromyalgia (FM) treatment. METHODS: Using privately insured U.S. administrative claims data, this study examined TCA use for newly diagnosed FM patients. Patients ages 18 to 64 years with ≥ 2 FM diagnoses (ICD-9-CM: 729.1) during Q1:2007 to Q1:2009, no previous FM diagnosis, and continuous eligibility for insurance during the year before and after the first FM diagnosis ("study period") were identified as newly diagnosed (N = 10,129). Treatment with TCAs was examined over the first treatment episode (allowing up to a 45-day gap between refills). A sensitivity analysis was performed excluding patients with depression/anxiety diagnoses during the study period. RESULTS: During the study period, 8.9% of patients with FM used TCAs at anytime, 5.0% used TCAs during the year before FM diagnosis, and 7.2% used TCAs during the year after. The mean (median) duration of the first treatment episode was 150 (58) days. During this episode, 84.0% used other medications concomitantly, with 60.3% using analgesics and 39.6% using other antidepressants. Additionally, 60.8% augmented TCA use with other drugs, 61.8% switched to another drug at the end of their TCA episode, and 22.8% discontinued TCAs without switching. Similar patterns were observed for the subset of patients with no depression or anxiety (N = 7,655). DISCUSSION: Research covering 1999 to 2005 using the same methods found that 15.9% of patients with FM used TCAs during the year before FM diagnosis and 20.7% used TCAs during the year after. These findings suggest that TCA use among the patients with FM is uncommon and may be declining in real-world practice.

Societal costs of prescription opioid abuse, dependence, and misuse in the United States.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to estimate the societal costs of prescription opioid abuse, dependence, and misuse in the United States. METHODS: Costs were grouped into three categories: health care, workplace, and criminal justice. Costs were estimated by 1) quantity method, which multiplies the number of opioid abuse patients by cost per opioid abuse patient; and 2) apportionment method, which begins with overall costs of drug abuse per component and apportions the share associated with prescription opioid abuse based on relative prevalence of prescription opioid to overall drug abuse. Excess health care costs per patient were based on claims data analysis of privately insured and Medicaid beneficiaries. Other data/information were derived from publicly available survey and other secondary sources. RESULTS: Total US societal costs of prescription opioid abuse were estimated at $55.7 billion in 2007 (USD in 2009). Workplace costs accounted for $25.6 billion (46%), health care costs accounted for $25.0 billion (45%), and criminal justice costs accounted for $5.1 billion (9%). Workplace costs were driven by lost earnings from premature death ($11.2 billion) and reduced compensation/lost employment ($7.9 billion). Health care costs consisted primarily of excess medical and prescription costs ($23.7 billion). Criminal justice costs were largely comprised of correctional facility ($2.3 billion) and police costs ($1.5 billion). CONCLUSIONS: The costs of prescription opioid abuse represent a substantial and growing economic burden for the society. The increasing prevalence of abuse suggests an even greater societal burden in the future.

Direct and indirect costs associated with epileptic partial onset seizures among the privately insured in the United States.

PURPOSE: Compare annual direct and indirect costs between privately insured U.S. patients with epileptic partial onset seizures (POS) and matched controls. METHODS: One thousand eight hundred fifty-nine patients (including a subset of 758 employees) with >or=1 (POS) diagnosis (ICD-9-CM: 345.4.x-345.7.x), 1999-2004, ages 16-64 years, were identified from a privately insured claims database. Control group was an age- and gender-matched cohort of randomly chosen beneficiaries without epilepsy (ICD-9-CM: 345.x). All were required to have continuous health coverage during 2004 (baseline) and 2005 (study period). Chi-square tests were used to compare baseline comorbidities. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used for comparisons of annual direct (medical and pharmaceutical) and indirect costs during the study period. RESULTS: Patients with POS were on average 42 years of age, and 57% were women. Patients with POS had significantly higher rates of mental health disorders, migraine, and other neurologic disorders, and higher Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) compared with controls. On average, direct annual costs were significantly higher for POS patients ($11,276) compared with controls ($4,087), p < 0.001; difference of $7,190. Epilepsy-related costs (i.e., costs for antiepileptic drugs, claims with epilepsy or convulsions diagnoses) accounted for $3,290 (29% of direct costs). Employees with POS had substantial and significantly higher indirect (disability- and medically related absenteeism) costs compared with controls ($3,431 vs. $1,511, p < 0.001). Multivariate analyses supported the matched-control univariate findings. CONCLUSION: Patients with POS had significantly higher costs compared with matched controls. Epilepsy-related costs underestimate the excess costs of patients with partial onset seizures.

Employer burden of mild, moderate, and severe major depressive disorder: mental health services utilization and costs, and work performance.

BACKGROUND: Treatment utilization/costs and work performance for persons with major depressive disorder (MDD) by severity of illness is not well documented. METHODS: Using National Comorbidity Survey-Replication (2001-2002) data, US workforce respondents (n=4,465) were classified by clinical severity (not clinically depressed, mild, moderate, severe) using a standard self-rating scale [Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology Self-Report (QIDS-SR)]. Outcomes included 12-month prevalence of medical services/medications use/costs and workplace performance. Treatment costs (employer's perspective) were estimated by weighing utilization measures by unit costs obtained for similar services used by MDD patients in claims data. Descriptive analysis across three severity groups generated chi(2) results. RESULTS: Using a sample of 539 US workforce respondents with MDD, 13.8% were classified mild, 38.5% moderate, and 47.7% severe cases. Mental health services usage, including antidepressants, increased significantly with severity, with average treatment costs substantially higher for severe than for mild cases both regarding mental health services ($697 vs. $388, chi(2)=4.4, P=.019) and antidepressants ($256 vs. $88, chi(2)=9.0, P=.001). Prevalence rates of unemployment/disability increased significantly (chi(2)=11.7, P=.003) with MDD severity (15.7, 23.3, and 31.3% for mild, moderate, and severe cases). Severely and moderately depressed workers missed more work than nondepressed workers; the monthly salary-equivalent lost performance of $199 (severely depressed) and $188 (moderately depressed) was significantly higher than for nondepressed workers (chi(2)=10.3, P<.001). Projected to the US workforce, monthly depression-related worker productivity losses had human capital costs of nearly $2 billion. CONCLUSIONS: MDD severity is significantly associated with increased treatment usage/costs, treatment adequacy, unemployment, and disability and with reduced work performance.

Age differences in the prevalence and co-morbidity of DSM-IV major depressive episodes: results from the WHO World Mental Health Survey Initiative.

BACKGROUND: Although depression appears to decrease in late life, this could be due to misattribution of depressive symptoms to physical disorders that increase in late life. METHODS: We investigated this issue by studying age differences in co-morbidity of DSM-IV major depressive episodes (MDE) with chronic physical conditions in the WHO World Mental Health (WMH) surveys, a series of community epidemiological surveys of respondents in 10 developed countries (n=52,485) and 8 developing countries (n=37,265). MDE and other mental disorders were assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). Organic exclusion rules were not used to avoid inappropriate exclusion of cases with physical co-morbidity. Physical conditions were assessed with a standard chronic conditions checklist. RESULTS: Twelve-month DSM-IV/CIDI MDE was significantly less prevalent among respondents ages 65+ than younger respondents in developed but not developing countries. Prevalence of co-morbid mental disorders generally either decreased or remained stable with age, while co-morbidity of MDE with mental disorders generally increased with age. Prevalence of physical conditions, in comparison, generally increased with age, while co-morbidity of MDE with physical conditions generally decreased with age. Depression treatment was lowest among the elderly in developed and developing countries. CONCLUSIONS: The weakening associations between MDE and physical conditions with increasing age argue against the suggestion that the low estimated prevalence of MDE among the elderly is due to increased confounding with physical disorders. Future study is needed to investigate processes that might lead to a decreasing impact of physical illness on depression among the elderly.

Clinical outcomes and medical care costs among medicare beneficiaries receiving therapy for peripheral arterial disease.

BACKGROUND: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a common disorder with multiple options for treatment, ranging from medical interventions, surgical revascularization, and endovascular therapy. Despite the explosive advances in endovascular therapy, cost-effective methods of care have not been well defined. We analyze therapeutic strategies, outcomes, and medical cost of treatment among Medicare patients with PAD. METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients who underwent therapy for PAD were identified from a 5% random sample of Medicare beneficiaries from Medicare Standard Analytic Files for the period 1999-2005. Clinical outcomes (death, amputation, new clinical symptoms related to PAD) and direct medical costs were examined by chosen revascularization options (endovascular, surgical, and combinations). One-year PAD prevalence increased steadily from 8.2% in 1999 to 9.5% in 2005. The risk-adjusted time to first post-treatment clinical outcome was lowest in those treated with "percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) or atherectomy and stents" (HR, 0.829; 95% CI, 0.793-0.865; p < 0.001) and stents only (HR, 0.904; 95% CI, 0.848-0.963; p = 0.002) compared with PTA alone. The lowest per patient risk-adjusted costs during the quarter of the first observed treatment were associated with "PTA and stents" ($15,197), and stents only ($15,867). Risk-adjusted costs for surgical procedures (bypass and endarterectomy) were $27,021 during the same period. Diabetes was present in 61.7% of the PAD population and was associated with higher risks of clinical events and higher medical costs compared with PAD patients without diabetes. CONCLUSION: The clinical and economic burden of PAD in the Medicare population is substantial, and the interventions used to treat PAD are associated with differences in clinical and economic outcomes. Prospective cost-effectiveness analyses should be included in future PAD therapy trials to inform payers and providers of the relative value of available treatment options.

Measuring The Impact Of Air Pollution On Health Care Costs.

Air pollution contributes to the development of numerous adverse human health outcomes. The Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program-Community Edition (BenMAP-CE) tool is widely used in estimating the health care costs of air pollution and in the development of federal and state regulations and policy. Its default features consider only the costs of hospital and emergency department admissions. A more complete accounting of the chain of costs would include ambulatory and other care. In this article we use employer health insurance claims data to infer additional costs that accompany hospitalizations but are not included in BenMAP-CE. Including additional categories increases BenMAP-CE health care cost estimates by approximately 40 percent for respiratory and cardiovascular patients. That is, for each dollar of health care costs captured by BenMAP-CE, a more complete accounting would include an additional 40 cents. These results suggest that because such air pollution costs are underestimated, the health care benefits associated with reducing air pollution may be much larger than previously estimated.

Direct Costs of Opioid Abuse in an Insured Population in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: To (a) describe the demographics of opioid abusers; (b) compare the prevalence rates of selected comorbidities and the medical and drug utilization patterns of opioid abusers with patients from a control group, for the period from 1998 to 2002; and (c) calculate the mean annual per-patient total health care costs (e.g., inpatient, outpatient, emergency room, drug, other) from the perspective of a private payer. METHODS: An administrative database of medical and pharmacy claims from 1998 to 2002 of 16 self-insured employer health plans with approximately 2 million lives was used to identify "opioid abusers"-patients with claims associated with ICD-9-CM (International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification) codes for opioid abuse (304.0, 304.7, 305.5, and 965.0 [excluding 965.01]). A control group of nonabusers was selected using a matched sample (by age, gender, employment status, and census region) in a 3:1 ratio. Per-patient annual health care costs (mean total medical and drug costs) were measured in 2003 U.S. dollars. Multivariate regression techniques were also used to control for comorbidities and to compare costs with a benchmark of depressed patients. RESULTS: 740 patients were identified as opioid abusers, a prevalence of 8 in 10,000 persons aged 12 to 64 years continuously enrolled in health care plans for whom 12 months of data were available for calculating costs. Opioid abusers, compared with nonabusers, had significantly higher prevalence rates for a number of specific comorbidities, including nonopioid poisoning, hepatitis (A, B, or C), psychiatric illnesses, and pancreatitis, which were approximately 78, 36, 9, and 21 (P<0.01) times higher, respectively, compared with nonabusers. Opioid abusers also had higher levels of medical and prescription drug utilization. Almost 60% of opioid abusers had prescription drug claims for opioids compared with approximately 20% for nonabusers. Prevalence rates for hospital inpatient visits for opioid abusers were more than 12 times higher compared with nonabusers (P<0.01). Mean annual direct health care costs for opioid abusers were more than 8 times higher than for nonabusers ($15,884 versus $1,830, respectively, P < 0.01). Hospital inpatient and physician-outpatient costs accounted for 46% ($7,239) and 31% ($5,000) of opioid abusers' health care costs, compared with 17% ($310) and 50% ($906), respectively, for nonabusers. Mean drug costs for opioid abusers were more than 5 times higher than costs for nonabusers ($2,034 vs. $386, respectively, P<0.01), driven by higher drug utilization (including opioids) for opioid abusers. Even when controlling for comorbidities using a multivariate regression model of a matched control of depressed patients, the average health care costs of opioid abusers were 1.8 times higher than the average health care costs of depressed patients. CONCLUSION: The high costs of opioid abuse were driven primarily by high prevalence rates of costly comorbidites and high utilization rates of medical services and prescription drugs. DISCLOSURES: Funding for this research was provided by an unrestricted grant from Janssen Medical Affairs, L.L.C. and was obtained by authors Susan Vallow and Jeff Schein, who are employed by Janssen Medical Affairs, L.L.C. Nathaniel Katz is a consultant to Janssen and numerous other pharmaceutical companies that manufacture branded opioid products and nonopioid analgesics; authors Alan G. White, Howard G. Birnbaum, Milena N. Mareva, and Maham Daher disclose no potential bias or conflict of interest relating to this article. White served as principal author of the study. Study concept and design were contributed primarily by White, Vallow, Schein, and Katz. Analysis and interpretation of data were contributed by all authors. Drafting of the manuscript was primarily the work of White, and its critical revision was the work of White and Vallow. Statistical expertise was contributed by White, Birnbaum, and Daher, and administrative, technical, and/or material support was provided by Analysis Group, Inc., Boston, MA.

The cost of disability and medically related absenteeism among employees with multiple sclerosis in the US.

Studies have not previously reported the indirect cost burden of multiple sclerosis (MS) from an employer perspective. To compare annual indirect costs between privately insured US employees with MS and matched employee controls. A retrospective analysis of a privately insured claims database containing disability data from 17 US companies was conducted. Employees with >/=1 MS diagnosis (ICD-9-CM: 340.x) after 1 January 2002, aged 18-64 years, were selected. Employees with MS were matched by age and sex to employee controls without MS. All were required to have continuous health coverage 3 months before MS diagnosis (baseline) and 12 months after (study period). Main outcomes measures included study period annual indirect (disability and medically related absenteeism) costs. For completeness, we also included measures of direct (medical and drug) costs. Chi-squared tests were used to compare baseline co-morbidities and differences in indirect resource use (disability and medically related absenteeism) between employees with MS and controls. Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were used for univariate comparisons of disability and medically related absenteeism days and associated annual indirect and direct costs between employees with MS and controls. Generalized linear models, controlling for differences in baseline characteristics, were used to estimate risk-adjusted annual costs for employees with MS and controls. Employees with MS (n = 989) averaged 44 years of age, and 66% were female. Compared with employee controls, employees with MS had significantly higher rates of mental health disorders, other neurological disorders and physical disorders measured by the Charlson Co-morbidity Index. Employees with MS were more likely to have short-term or long-term disability than employee controls (21.4% vs 5.2%, respectively; p < 0.0001), resulting in a higher mean number of disability days per year (29.8 vs 4.5; p < 0.0001). Employees with MS also had a higher rate of medically related absenteeism and associated absenteeism days than employee controls. On average, annual costs (year 2006 values) for disability were significantly higher for employees with MS ($US3868) than employee controls ($US414; p < 0.0001). Annual medically related absenteeism costs were also higher for employees with MS than for controls ($US1901 vs $US1003, respectively; p < 0.0001). On average, total annual indirect costs for employees with MS were $US5769 compared with $US1417 for controls (p < 0.0001). MS is a chronic and debilitating disease that poses a substantial employer burden in terms of medically related absenteeism and disability costs. Indirect costs of employees with MS were >4 times those of employee controls.

Determinants of direct cost differences among US employees with major depressive disorders using antidepressants.

OBJECTIVE: To understand factors driving the economic burden of major depressive disorder (MDD) patients with different treatment regimens, by evaluating the relationship between medical profiles and treatment costs. METHODS: Claims data for US privately insured employees (1999-2004) were analysed. Analysis included adult employees with >/=1 diagnosis of MDD and >/=1 prescription for specific antidepressants following a 6-month washout period. Patients were first classified into treatment pattern groups (switchers/discontinuers/maintainers/augmenters), then stratified into mutually exclusive treatment groups - nonstable, stable and intermediate - based on evidence of stability in treatment therapy. Rates of mental and physical co-morbidities, injuries/accidents, substance abuse and urgent care use were analysed across treatment pattern groups. Direct (medical/drug) costs were calculated per patient per year and disaggregated into depression- and non-depression-related components. A two-part multivariate model controlled for baseline characteristics. Costs were also estimated for patients with MDD only, patients with MDD and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and patients with MDD and any type of anxiety. RESULTS: Annual per patient adjusted costs (year 2005 values) were significantly lower among stable patients ($US6215) than among intermediate ($US7317) and nonstable patients ($US9948; p < 0.001). Stable patients also had lower depression- and non-depression-related costs. Patients with MDD and comorbid GAD or any type of anxiety had significantly higher costs than MDD-only patients. CONCLUSIONS: Nonstability of treatment is associated with higher comorbidity rates, more urgent care use and higher total, depression- and non-depression-related direct costs. The stable group represents continuity of care and is associated with significant cost savings. Co-morbidities are associated with increased costs.