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Alkhudair N, Alhifany AA, Alsubaie B, Alshubaiki L, Alrajhi AM, alnuhait M. Assessing oncology providers attitudes and practices toward nonformulary drugs and mapping current obstacles in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Pharm J 2023; 31:101840. [PMID: 37961071 PMCID: PMC10638026 DOI: 10.1016/j.jsps.2023.101840] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2023] [Accepted: 10/19/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Formulary drug list is a continually updated list of medications routinely stocked by hospitals and other healthcare facilities and deemed effective, safe, and cost saving. Non-formulary drug (NFD) refers to medications not on the formulary, due to cost or lack of clinical data. This study aimed to examine the processing of NFD requests by oncology providers (OPs) in Saudi Arabia. Method A cross-sectional survey in Saudi oncology centers gathered perspectives of healthcare practitioners, mainly oncology pharmacists and physicians, on NFDs and request processes, aiming to understand variations, reasons for NFDs, and suggestions for an improved, unified NFDs request algorithm. Result A total of 93 physicians and pharmacists responded, 57 % were pharmacists, 43 % were physicians, and 94.6 % worked in the governmental sector. Around 31.2 % reported that it takes one week to receive a decision on their NFD request, while 28 % reported it takes two weeks to one month. Furthermore, 35.5 % of participants reported that the complete NFD process, from the initial order placement to the receipt of medications, spans a duration of 2-4 months, while 8.6 % noted a longer duration exceeding six months. The participants reported that the most common obstacles while requesting NFD were procurement delays and lengthy processing times. Additionally, 26.9 % agreed that formulary restrictions hindered medical care and 40.3 % reported delays in patient care. While 33.8 % were forced to use fewer effective options, and 22.1 % referred patients to palliative care. Conclusion The current practice of NFDs has negative consequences on cancer patient outcomes due to delays in patient care or the use of less effective drugs. Thus, we recommend having a national NFD access program.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nora Alkhudair
- Clinical Pharmacy Department, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Abdullah A. Alhifany
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Basha Alsubaie
- Clinical Pharmacy Department, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Leena Alshubaiki
- Clinical Pharmacy Department, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Abdullah M. Alrajhi
- Clinical Pharmacy Department, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, AlFaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohammed alnuhait
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
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Zheutlin AR, Derington CG, Herrick JS, Rosenson RS, Poudel B, Safford MM, Brown TM, Jackson EA, Woodward M, Reading S, Orroth K, Exter J, Virani SS, Muntner P, Bress AP. Lipid-Lowering Therapy Use and Intensification Among United States Veterans Following Myocardial Infarction or Coronary Revascularization Between 2015 and 2019. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes 2022; 15:e008861. [PMID: 36252093 PMCID: PMC10680021 DOI: 10.1161/circoutcomes.121.008861] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2021] [Accepted: 06/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Understanding how statins, ezetimibe, and PCSK9i (proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 serine protease inhibitors) are prescribed after a myocardial infarction (MI) or elective coronary revascularization may improve lipid-lowering therapy (LLT) intensification and reduce recurrent atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease events. We described the use and intensification of LLT among US veterans who had a MI or elective coronary revascularization between July 24, 2015, and December 9, 2019, within 12 months of hospital discharge. METHODS LLT intensification was defined as increasing statin dose, or initiating a statin, ezetimibe, or a PCSK9i, overall and among those with an LDL-C (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol) ≥70 or 100 mg/dL. Poisson regression was used to determine patient characteristics associated with a greater likelihood of LLT intensification following hospitalization for MI or elective coronary revascularization. RESULTS Among 81 372 index events (mean age, 69.0 years, 2.3% female, mean LDL-C 89.6 mg/dL, 33.8% with LDL-C <70 mg/dL), 39.7% were not taking any LLT, and 22.0%, 37.2%, and 0.6% were taking a low-moderate intensity statin, a high-intensity statin, and ezetimibe, respectively, before MI/coronary revascularization during the study period. Within 14 days, 3 months, and 12 months posthospitalization, 33.3%, 41.9%, and 47.3%, respectively, of veterans received LLT intensification. LLT intensification was most common among veterans taking no LLT (82.5%, n=26 637) before MI/coronary revascularization. Higher baseline LDL-C, having a lipid test, and attending a cardiology visit were each associated with a greater likelihood of LLT intensification, while age ≥75 versus <65 years was associated with a lower likelihood of LLT intensification within 12 months posthospitalization. CONCLUSIONS Less than half of veterans received LLT intensification in the year after MI or coronary revascularization suggesting a missed opportunity to reduce atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Catherine G Derington
- Department of Population Health Sciences, Division of Health System Innovation and Research, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Jennifer S Herrick
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Epidemiology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
- Informatics, Decision Enhancement and Analytic Sciences (IDEAS) Center of Innovation, Veterans Affairs Salt Lake City Health Care System, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Robert S Rosenson
- Mount Sinai Heart, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Bharat Poudel
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Monika M Safford
- Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Todd M Brown
- Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Elizabeth A Jackson
- Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Disease, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Mark Woodward
- The George Institute for Global Health, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, UK
- The George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Stephanie Reading
- Center for Observational Research, Amgen Inc., Amgen Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA, USA
| | - Kate Orroth
- Center for Observational Research, Amgen Inc., Amgen Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA, USA
| | - Jason Exter
- Center for Observational Research, Amgen Inc., Amgen Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA, USA
| | - Salim S Virani
- Section of Cardiovascular Research, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Health Policy and Quality Program, Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center Health Services Research and Development Center of Excellence, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Paul Muntner
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Adam P Bress
- Department of Population Health Sciences, Division of Health System Innovation and Research, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
- Informatics, Decision Enhancement and Analytic Sciences (IDEAS) Center of Innovation, Veterans Affairs Salt Lake City Health Care System, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
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Lin I, Melsheimer R, Bhak RH, Lefebvre P, DerSarkissian M, Emond B, Lax A, Nguyen C, Wu M, Young-Xu Y. Impact of switching to infliximab biosimilars on treatment patterns among US veterans receiving innovator infliximab. Curr Med Res Opin 2022; 38:613-627. [PMID: 35125053 DOI: 10.1080/03007995.2022.2037846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To compare treatment patterns of United States (US) veterans stable on innovator infliximab (IFX) who switched to an IFX biosimilar (switchers) or remained on innovator IFX (continuers). METHODS US Veterans Healthcare Administration data (01/2012-12/2019) were used to identify adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), plaque psoriasis (PsO), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), or Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (i.e. inflammatory bowel disease [IBD]), treated with innovator or biosimilar IFX. Index date was the first IFX biosimilar administration for switchers or a random innovator IFX administration for continuers. Patients were required to have ≥5 innovator IFX administrations during the 12 months pre-index (prevalent population). Patients with ≥12 months of observation prior to the first innovator IFX administration were analyzed as the primary population (incident population), and data were assessed from start of innovator IFX. Inverse probability of treatment weighting was used to balance baseline characteristics between cohorts. Treatment patterns were evaluated post-index; continuers were censored before switching to IFX biosimilar. Discontinuation was defined as switching to another biologic (including innovator IFX) or having ≥120 days between 2 consecutive index treatment records. RESULTS In the incident population, mean [median] duration of follow-up was 737 [796] days among switchers (N = 838) and 479 [337] days among continuers (N = 849). Compared to continuers, switchers were 2.88-times more likely to discontinue index therapy (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.88, p < .001) and 4.99-times more likely to switch to another innovator biologic (HR = 4.99, p < .001). Of 653 switchers switching to another innovator biologic, 594 (91.0%) switched back to innovator IFX. Results were similar among the prevalent population and RA and IBD subgroups. CONCLUSION Patients switching from innovator to biosimilar IFX were more likely to discontinue treatment and switch to another innovator biologic (notably back to innovator IFX) than those remaining on innovator IFX; however, reasons for discontinuation and switching are unknown.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iris Lin
- Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC, Horsham, PA, USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Bruno Emond
- Analysis Group, Inc, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Angela Lax
- Analysis Group, Inc, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | | | - Melody Wu
- Analysis Group, Inc, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Yinong Young-Xu
- White River Junction VA Medical Center, White River Junction, VT, USA
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Galanter W, Eguale T, Gellad W, Lambert B, Mirica M, Cashy J, Salazar A, Volk LA, Falck S, Shilka J, Van Dril E, Jarrett J, Zulueta J, Fiskio J, Orav J, Norwich D, Bennett S, Seger D, Wright A, Linder JA, Schiff G. Personal Formularies of Primary Care Physicians Across 4 Health Care Systems. JAMA Netw Open 2021; 4:e2117038. [PMID: 34264328 PMCID: PMC8283562 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.17038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
IMPORTANCE More conservative prescribing has the potential to reduce adverse drug events and patient harm and cost; however, no method exists defining the extent to which individual clinicians prescribe conservatively. One potential domain is prescribing a more limited number of drugs. Personal formularies-defined as the number and mix of unique, newly initiated drugs prescribed by a physician-may enable comparisons among clinicians, practices, and institutions. OBJECTIVES To develop a method of defining primary care physicians' personal formularies and examine how they differ among primary care physicians at 4 institutions; evaluate associations between personal formularies and patient, physician, and practice site characteristics; and empirically derive and examine the variability of the top 200 core drugs prescribed at the 4 sites. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This retrospective cohort study was conducted at 4 US health care systems among 4655 internal and family medicine physicians and 4 930 707 patients who had at least 1 visit to these physicians between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2018. EXPOSURES Personal formulary size was defined as the number of unique, newly initiated drugs. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Personal formulary size and drugs used, physician and patient characteristics, core drugs, and analysis of selected drug classes. RESULTS The study population included 4655 primary care physicians (2274 women [48.9%]; mean [SD] age, 48.5 [4.4] years) and 4 930 707 patients (16.5% women; mean [SD] age, 51.9 [8.3] years). There were 41 378 903 outpatient prescriptions written, of which 9 496 766 (23.0%) were new starts. Institution median personal formulary size ranged from 150 (interquartile range, 82.0-212.0) to 296 (interquartile range, 230.0-347.0) drugs. In multivariable modeling, personal formulary size was significantly associated with panel size (total number of unique patients with face-to-face encounters during the study period; 1.2 medications per 100 patients), physician's total number of encounters (5.7 drugs per 10% increase), and physician's sex (-6.2 drugs per 100 patients for female physicians). There were 1527 unique, newly prescribed drugs across the 4 sites. Fewer than half the drugs (626 [41.0%]) were used at every site. Physicians' prescribing of drugs from a pooled core list varied from 0% to 100% of their prescriptions. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Personal formularies, measured at the level of individual physicians and institutions, reveal variability in size and mix of drugs. Similarly, defining a list of commonly prescribed core drugs in primary care revealed interphysician and interinstitutional differences. Personal formularies and core medication lists enable comparisons and may identify outliers and opportunities for safer and more appropriate prescribing.
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Affiliation(s)
- William Galanter
- Department of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago
- Department of Pharmacy Systems, Outcomes and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago
| | | | - Walid Gellad
- Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | | | | | - John Cashy
- Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | | | | | - Suzanne Falck
- Department of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago
| | - John Shilka
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago
| | - Elizabeth Van Dril
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago
| | - Jennie Jarrett
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago
| | - John Zulueta
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago
| | | | - John Orav
- Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts
| | | | | | | | | | - Jeffrey A. Linder
- Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois
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Coe AB, Vincent BM, Iwashyna TJ. Statin discontinuation and new antipsychotic use after an acute hospital stay vary by hospital. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0232707. [PMID: 32384108 PMCID: PMC7209203 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232707] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2019] [Accepted: 04/20/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction Patients are at risk for medication problems after hospital admissions, particularly those with critical illness. Medication problems include continuation of acute medications and discontinuation of chronic medications after discharge. Little is known across a national integrated health care system about the extent of these two medication problems. Objective To examine the extent of statin medication discontinuation and new antipsychotic medication use after hospital discharge. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Veterans Affairs healthcare system. Participants Veterans with an inpatient hospitalization from January 1, 2014-December 31, 2016, survived at least 180 days post-discharge, and received at least one medication through the VA outpatient pharmacy within one year around admission were included. Hospitalizations were grouped into: 1) direct admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) and a diagnosis of sepsis, 2) direct admission to the ICU without sepsis diagnosis, and 3) no ICU stay during the hospitalization. Main outcome measures Statin medication discontinuation and new antipsychotic use at six months post-hospital discharge. Results A total of 520,187 participants were included in the statin medication and 910,629 in the antipsychotic medication cohorts. Statin discontinuation ranged from 10–15% and new antipsychotic prescription fills from 2–4% across the three hospitalization groups, with highest rates in the ICU admission and sepsis diagnosis group. Statin discontinuation and new antipsychotic use after a hospitalization varied by hospital, with worse performing hospitals having 11% higher odds of discontinuing a statin (median odds ratio at hospital-level, adjusted for patient differences, aMOR: 1.11 (95% CI: 1.09, 1.13)) and 29% higher odds of new antipsychotic use (aMOR, 1.29 (95% CI: 1.24, 1.34)). Risk-adjusted hospital rates of these two medication changes were not correlated (p = 0.49). Conclusions Systemic variation in the rates of statin medication continuation and new antipsychotic use were found.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antoinette B. Coe
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy and Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Brenda M. Vincent
- Center for Clinical Management Research, Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
| | - Theodore J. Iwashyna
- Center for Clinical Management Research, Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
- Department of Internal Medicine and Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
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