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Bhatnagar A, Parvathareddy V, Winkelmayer WC, Chertow GM, Erickson KF. Market Competition and Anemia Management in the United States Following Dialysis Payment Reform. Med Care 2023; 61:787-795. [PMID: 37721983 PMCID: PMC10592119 DOI: 10.1097/mlr.0000000000001924] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/20/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Whether market competition influences health care provider responses to national reimbursement reforms is unknown. OBJECTIVES We examined whether changes in anemia management after the expansion of Medicare's dialysis payment bundle varied with market competition. RESEARCH DESIGN With data from the US dialysis registry, we used a difference-in-differences (DID) design to estimate the independent associations of market competition with changes in anemia management after dialysis reimbursement reform. SUBJECTS A total of 326,150 patients underwent in-center hemodialysis in 2009 and 2012, representing periods before and after reimbursement reform. MEASURES Outcomes were erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) and intravenous iron dosage, the probability of hemoglobin <9 g/dL, hospitalizations, and mortality. We also examined serum ferritin concentration, an indicator of body iron stores. We used a dichotomous market competition index, with less competitive areas defined as effectively having <2 competing dialysis providers. RESULTS Compared with areas with more competition, patients in less competitive areas had slightly more pronounced declines in ESA dose (60% vs. 57%) following reimbursement reform (DID estimate: -3%; 95% CI, -5% to -1%) and less pronounced declines in intravenous iron dose (-14% vs. -19%; DID estimate: 5%; 95% CI, 1%-9%). The likelihoods of hemoglobin <9 g/dL, hospitalization, and mortality did not vary with market competition. Serum ferritin concentrations in 2012 were 4% (95% CI, 3%-6%) higher in less competitive areas. CONCLUSIONS After the expansion of Medicare's dialysis payment bundle, ESA use declined by more, and intravenous iron use declined by less in concentrated markets. More aggressive cost-reduction strategies may be implemented in less competitive markets.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Glenn M Chertow
- Division of Nephrology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA
| | - Kevin F Erickson
- Baylor College of Medicine, Section of Nephrology, Houston, TX
- Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, TX
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Parvathareddy V, Selamet U, Sen AA, Mamlouk O, Song J, Page VD, Abdelrahim M, Diab A, Abdel-Wahab N, Abudayyeh A. Infliximab for Treatment of Immune Adverse Events and Its Impact on Tumor Response. Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15:5181. [PMID: 37958355 PMCID: PMC10649345 DOI: 10.3390/cancers15215181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2023] [Revised: 10/23/2023] [Accepted: 10/25/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) challenge the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). We performed a retrospective study to evaluate response to infliximab for immune-related adverse event management, and infliximab's effect on progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) with a focus on melanoma and genitourinary cancers. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed records of all cancer patients exposed to infliximab after immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) treatment from 2004 to 2021 at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. Survival was assessed utilizing the Kaplan-Meier method. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression was utilized to evaluate predictors of infliximab response, OS, and PFS. Results: We identified 185 cancer patients (93 melanoma and 37 genitourinary cancers) treated with ICI and who received infliximab to treat irAEs. Within 3 months of treatment initiation, 71% of the patients responded to infliximab, 27% had no response, and 2% had unknown response. Among different irAEs, colitis was associated with increased response to infliximab at 3 months, irrespective of the type of malignancy. We evaluated best tumor response before and after infliximab in the entire cohort and again in the melanoma and genitourinary (GU); the findings were similar in the melanoma cohort and the entire cohort, where best tumor response before and after infliximab was not significantly different. In the melanoma cohort, acute kidney injury (AKI) was associated with increased risk of death, p = 0.0109, and having response to infliximab was associated with decreased risk of death, p = 0.0383. Interestingly in GU cancer patients, myositis was associated with increased risk of death, p = 0.0041, and having a response to infliximab was marginally associated with decreased risk of death, p = 0.0992. As regards PFS, in a multivariate Cox regression model, having a history of cardiovascular disease remained significantly associated with shorter PFS in the melanoma cohort. For patients with GU cancers, response to infliximab was associated with longer PFS. Conclusions: Our study is among the largest retrospective analyses of infliximab use for irAE management. Patients with colitis were the best responders to infliximab. AKI before initiation of infliximab in the melanoma subcohort and myositis in GU subcohort are associated with higher risk of death. Our results indicate no association between infliximab and cancer progression with the exception of genitourinary cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Umut Selamet
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA;
| | - Aditi A. Sen
- Department of Nephrology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (V.P.); (A.A.S.)
| | - Omar Mamlouk
- Section of Nephrology, Division of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Unit 1468, 1400 Pressler Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (O.M.); (V.D.P.)
| | - Juhee Song
- Department of Biostatistics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA;
| | - Valda D. Page
- Section of Nephrology, Division of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Unit 1468, 1400 Pressler Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (O.M.); (V.D.P.)
| | - Maen Abdelrahim
- Institute of Academic Medicine and Weill Cornell Medical College, Houston Methodist Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77479, USA;
| | - Adi Diab
- Department of Melanoma Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (A.D.); (N.A.-W.)
| | - Noha Abdel-Wahab
- Department of Melanoma Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (A.D.); (N.A.-W.)
- Section of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Department of General Internal Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Department, Assiut University Hospitals, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut 71515, Egypt
| | - Ala Abudayyeh
- Section of Nephrology, Division of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Unit 1468, 1400 Pressler Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (O.M.); (V.D.P.)
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Parvathareddy V, Erickson KF. How Did Medicare Payment Reform Affect Highly Concentrated Dialysis Markets? JAMA Health Forum 2021; 2:e213378. [DOI: 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2021.3378] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | - Kevin F. Erickson
- Section of Nephrology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
- Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, Texas
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