Sumatriptan for migraine: assessing the outcomes
- PDF / 668,358 Bytes
- 2 Pages / 557 x 846 pts Page_size
- 51 Downloads / 176 Views
PHARMACOECONOMICS
-Tracey Langsdale-
It seems that all players in the healthcare arena need outcomes data - so why not work together? Glaxo WeUcome and QualMed Health Plan· have done just that, joining forces to assess the outcomes of sumatriptan use among health plan members. At the 1996 Congress on Health Outcomes & Accountability [Washington DC, US; December 1995], delegates heard how the 2 parties formed a successful partnership to gain the outcomes data they each required. The first phase of this industry-HMO partnership involved a retrospective review of expenditure for healthcare services used by patients with migraine I year before and after formulary inclusion of sumatriptan [Imitrex®; Glaxo Wellcome].
Sumatriptan 'budget-neutral' Randy Legg, regional pharmacy manager for QualMed Health Plan, reported that in the year after sumatriptan became available, expenditure on concomitant medications, emergency room (ER) visits and hospital admissions decreased, compared with the previous year. However, the large decrease in spending on the latter 2 items was offset by the large increase in physician office visits. ** Overall, the addition of sumatriptan to the formulary had a 'budget-neutral' impact on healthcare costs, he told delegates. The second phase of the partnership involved measuring the effect of sumatriptan on clinical, economic and humanistic outcomes. Health plan members who had used sumatriptan at least once in the previous 18 months were identified and asked to complete a telephone questionnaire based on the Migraine Outcomes Assessment kit.t 164/220 (75%) patients with migraine responded. Fig 1. Effect of sumatriptan on severity of migraine disability during an attack
80
o a.'Of. aumatrl.otan •
Aft.r .l.Imatrlptan
$ c
Q)
-c c: 0
60
Q. ct)
! '0
40
~
20 0 - ' - -Mild
Fig 2. Healthcare cost savings after sumatriptan therapy To'" I •• vlng. Preocrfpti on drug.
118 .1 5 1
lUll
OTC drug.
Dacto .. office v l. ti .
Measuring outcomes
100
The clinical outcomes measured were severity and frequency of migraine attacks. The survey results suggested that sumatriptan reduced the severity of migraine disability [see figure 1], while decreasing the number of migraine disability days per month by 41 %, explained Dr John Mackowiak, director of outcomes management at Glaxo Wellcome. The economic outcomes measured included healthcare resource use and costs, and lost labour costs.
Moderate
Severity o f migraine
Severe
* an IPA network health maintenance organisation (HMO) covering
around (i) (XX) lives
•• 7his inar!ase in physician office visits may have resuJJedfrom package IoheUing which recommends that the first injection of sumatriptan should be given under medical supervision.
t The kiJ is designed/or use by managed-care organisations to assess the outcomes ofmigraine within their patient population; it is not yet available. 0156·270319611 033-00071$01 .rxP Adl. InWmatl_1 Limited 1• • All rlghU rnerwd
•
27
! I~
Emergency room v iaita
45
ii ~ i~
Ho.pit.1 .dml•• ion.
~=-.--.--~~
Data Loading...
