1
|
Constant BD, Long MD, Scott FI, Higgins PDR. Insurer-Mandated Medication Utilization Barriers are Associated With Decreased Insurance Satisfaction and Adverse Clinical Outcomes: An Inflammatory Bowel Disease Partners Survey. Am J Gastroenterol 2024; 119:2070-2078. [PMID: 38819004 DOI: 10.14309/ajg.0000000000002851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2023] [Accepted: 04/04/2024] [Indexed: 06/01/2024]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Insurer-mandated barriers to timely initiation of advanced therapies used to treat inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have been shown to worsen clinical outcomes and increase healthcare utilization, yet rarely alter the medication ultimately prescribed. METHODS We conducted a survey within the IBD Partners longitudinal cohort to evaluate the frequency and patient-reported impacts of medication utilization barriers on insurance satisfaction and clinical outcomes. Barriers included medication denials, prior authorizations, and forced medication switches. Variables associated with insurance satisfaction, measured on a 1-7 Likert scale, were identified. The association between insurance-related barriers and downstream clinical outcomes (surgery, corticosteroid requirement, and disease activity) were evaluated. RESULTS Two thousand seventeen patients (age 45 [interquartile range 34-58] years, 73% female) were included. Seventy-two percent experienced an insurer-mandated barrier, most commonly prior authorizations (51%). Fifteen percent were denied an IBD medication by their insurer, 22% experienced an insurance-related gap in therapy, and 8% were forced by their insurer to switch from an effective medication. Insurance satisfaction was negatively associated with medication denials, prior authorization-related delays, gaps in therapy, and high-deductible health plan coverage. In the year following the initial survey, several insurance barriers were linked to negative downstream clinical outcomes, including prior authorizations associated with corticosteroid rescue (odds ratio [OR] 2.24, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.25-4.00), forced medication switches associated with continued disease activity (OR 3.28, 95% CI 1.56-6.89), and medication denials associated with IBD-related surgery (OR 8.92, 95% CI 1.97-40.39). DISCUSSION These data illustrate the frequency and negative impacts of insurer-mandated medication barriers on patients with IBD, including decreased insurance satisfaction and negative downstream clinical outcomes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Brad D Constant
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Digestive Health Institute, Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora, Colorado, USA
| | - Millie D Long
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Frank I Scott
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Peter D R Higgins
- Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Burisch J, Zhao M, Odes S, De Cruz P, Vermeire S, Bernstein CN, Kaplan GG, Duricova D, Greenberg D, Melberg HO, Watanabe M, Ahn HS, Targownik L, Pittet VEH, Annese V, Park KT, Katsanos KH, Høivik ML, Krznaric Z, Chaparro M, Loftus EV, Lakatos PL, Gisbert JP, Bemelman W, Moum B, Gearry RB, Kappelman MD, Hart A, Pierik MJ, Andrews JM, Ng SC, D'Inca R, Munkholm P. The cost of inflammatory bowel disease in high-income settings: a Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology Commission. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol 2023; 8:458-492. [PMID: 36871566 DOI: 10.1016/s2468-1253(23)00003-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 43.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2022] [Revised: 01/09/2023] [Accepted: 01/10/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023]
Abstract
The cost of caring for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) continues to increase worldwide. The cause is not only a steady increase in the prevalence of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis in both developed and newly industrialised countries, but also the chronic nature of the diseases, the need for long-term, often expensive treatments, the use of more intensive disease monitoring strategies, and the effect of the diseases on economic productivity. This Commission draws together a wide range of expertise to discuss the current costs of IBD care, the drivers of increasing costs, and how to deliver affordable care for IBD in the future. The key conclusions are that (1) increases in health-care costs must be evaluated against improved disease management and reductions in indirect costs, and (2) that overarching systems for data interoperability, registries, and big data approaches must be established for continuous assessment of effectiveness, costs, and the cost-effectiveness of care. International collaborations should be sought out to evaluate novel models of care (eg, value-based health care, including integrated health care, and participatory health-care models), as well as to improve the education and training of clinicians, patients, and policy makers.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Johan Burisch
- Gastro Unit, Medical Division, Copenhagen University Hospital-Amager and Hvidovre, Hvidovre, Denmark; Copenhagen Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Children, Adolescents and Adults, Copenhagen University Hospital-Amager and Hvidovre, Hvidovre, Denmark.
| | - Mirabella Zhao
- Gastro Unit, Medical Division, Copenhagen University Hospital-Amager and Hvidovre, Hvidovre, Denmark; Copenhagen Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Children, Adolescents and Adults, Copenhagen University Hospital-Amager and Hvidovre, Hvidovre, Denmark
| | - Selwyn Odes
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
| | - Peter De Cruz
- Department of Gastroenterology, Austin Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Department of Medicine, Austin Academic Centre, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Severine Vermeire
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Hospital Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Faculty of Medicine, KU Leuven University, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Charles N Bernstein
- IBD Clinical and Research Centre, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada; Department of Internal Medicine, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
| | - Gilaad G Kaplan
- Department of Medicine and Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Dana Duricova
- IBD Clinical and Research Centre for IBD, ISCARE, Prague, Czech Republic; Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Dan Greenberg
- Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel; Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
| | - Hans O Melberg
- Department of Community Medicine, University of Tromsø-The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway; Department of Gastroenterology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Mamoru Watanabe
- Advanced Research Institute, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Hyeong Sik Ahn
- Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Laura Targownik
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Valérie E H Pittet
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Systems, Center for Primary Care and Public Health, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Vito Annese
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Fakeeh University Hospital, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
| | - K T Park
- Stanford Health Care, Packard Health Alliance, Alameda, CA, USA; Genentech (Roche Group), South San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Konstantinos H Katsanos
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ioannina School of Health Sciences, Ioannina, Greece
| | - Marte L Høivik
- Department of Gastroenterology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Zeljko Krznaric
- Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, University Hospital Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - María Chaparro
- Hospital Universitario de La Princesa, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Princesa, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Madrid, Spain
| | - Edward V Loftus
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Peter L Lakatos
- Division of Gastroenterology, McGill University Montreal, QC, Canada; Department of Internal Medicine and Oncology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Javier P Gisbert
- Hospital Universitario de La Princesa, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Princesa, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Madrid, Spain
| | - Willem Bemelman
- Department of Surgery, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Bjorn Moum
- Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Richard B Gearry
- Department of Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Michael D Kappelman
- Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Department of Pediatrics and Center for Gastrointestinal Biology and Disease, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Ailsa Hart
- IBD Unit, St Mark's Hospital, Middlesex, UK
| | - Marieke J Pierik
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Jane M Andrews
- IBD Service, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, SA, Australia; Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Siew C Ng
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, Institute of Digestive Disease, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Renata D'Inca
- Department of Surgical, Oncological and Gastroenterological Sciences, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Pia Munkholm
- Department of Gastroenterology, Copenhagen University Hospital-North Zealand, Hillerød, Denmark
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Marsal J, Barreiro-de Acosta M, Blumenstein I, Cappello M, Bazin T, Sebastian S. Management of Non-response and Loss of Response to Anti-tumor Necrosis Factor Therapy in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Front Med (Lausanne) 2022; 9:897936. [PMID: 35783628 PMCID: PMC9241563 DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2022.897936] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2022] [Accepted: 05/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) therapy has been successfully used as first-line biologic treatment for moderate-to-severe inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), in both "step-up" and "top-down" approaches, and has become a cornerstone of IBD management. However, in a proportion of patients the effectiveness of anti-TNF therapy is sub-optimal. Either patients do not achieve adequate initial response (primary non-response) or they lose response after initial success (loss of response). Therapeutic drug monitoring determines drug serum concentrations and the presence of anti-drug antibodies (ADAbs) and can help guide treatment optimization to improve patient outcomes. For patients with low drug concentrations who are ADAb-negative or display low levels of ADAbs, dose escalation is recommended. Should response remain unchanged following dose optimization the question whether to switch within class (anti-TNF) or out of class (different mechanism of action) arises. If ADAb levels are high and the patient has previously benefited from anti-TNF therapy, then switching within class is a viable option as ADAbs are molecule specific. Addition of an immunomodulator may lead to a decrease in ADAbs and a regaining of response in a proportion of patients. If a patient does not achieve a robust therapeutic response with an initial anti-TNF despite adequate drug levels, then switching out of class is appropriate. In conjunction with the guidance above, other factors including patient preference, age, comorbidities, disease phenotype, extra-intestinal manifestations, and treatment costs need to be factored into the treatment decision. In this review we discuss current evidence in this field and provide guidance on therapeutic decision-making in clinical situations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jan Marsal
- Department of Gastroenterology, Skåne University Hospital, Lund/Malmö, Sweden
- Department of Immunology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Manuel Barreiro-de Acosta
- Gastroenterology Department, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Irina Blumenstein
- Department of Internal Medicine 1, Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Clinical Nutrition, University Clinic Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Maria Cappello
- Gastroenterology and Hepatology Section, Promise, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Thomas Bazin
- Department of Gastroenterology, Université Paris Saclay/UVSQ, INSERM, Infection and Inflammation, UMR 1173, AP-HP, Hôpital Ambroise Paré, Boulogne Billancourt, France
| | - Shaji Sebastian
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Unit, Hull University Teaching Hospitals National Health Service (NHS) Trust, Hull, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|