Real world costs and cost-effectiveness of Rituximab for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients: a population-based analysis.

BackgroundCurrent treatment of diffuse-large-B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) includes rituximab, an expensive drug, combined with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) chemotherapy. Economic models have predicted rituximab plus CHOP (RCHOP) to be a cost-effective alternative to CHOP alone as first-line treatment of DLBCL, but it remains unclear what its real-world costs and cost-effectiveness are in routine clinical practice.MethodsWe performed a population-based retrospective cohort study from 1997 to 2007, using linked administrative databases in Ontario, Canada, to evaluate the costs and cost-effectiveness of RCHOP compared to CHOP alone. A historical control cohort (n = 1,099) with DLBCL who received CHOP before rituximab approval was hard-matched on age and treatment intensity and then propensity-score matched on sex, comorbidity, and histology to 1,099 RCHOP patients. All costs and outcomes were adjusted for censoring using the inverse probability weighting method. The main outcome measure was incremental cost per life-year gained (LYG).ResultsRituximab was associated with a life expectancy increase of 3.2 months over 5 years at an additional cost of $16,298, corresponding to an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of$61,984 (95% CI $34,087-$135,890) per LYG. The probability of being cost-effective was 90% if the willingness-to-pay threshold was $100,000/LYG. The cost-effectiveness ratio was most favourable for patients less than 60 years old ($31,800/LYG) but increased to $80,600/LYG for patients 60-79 years old and$110,100/LYG for patients ≥ 80 years old. We found that post-market survival benefits of rituximab are similar to or lower than those reported in clinical trials, while the costs, incremental costs and cost-effectiveness ratios are higher than in published economic models and differ by age.ConclusionsOur results showed that the addition of rituximab to standard CHOP chemotherapy was associated with improvement in survival but at a higher cost, and was potentially cost-effective by standard thresholds for patients <60 years old. However, cost-effectiveness decreased significantly with age, suggesting that rituximab may be not as economically attractive in the very elderly on average. This has important clinical implications regarding age-related use and funding decisions on this drug

The effect of combination treatment with aliskiren and blockers of the renin-angiotensin system on hyperkalaemia and acute kidney injury: systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective To examine the safety of using aliskiren combined with agents used to block the renin-angiotensin system

Analisis dan Perancangan Sistem Akuntansi dengan Model Driven Development (MDD) Pada Konveksi Anemarie

Informasi Akuntansi merupakan salah satu alat untuk mengambil keputusan dalam perusahaan.Sistem Informasi Akuntansi dapat memberikan kemudahan dalam menghasilkan informasi yang akurat, tepat waktu dapat dipahami dan teruji.Selain itu, sistem informasi akuntansi dapat memudahkan siklus operasional perusahaan baik dari pembelian, produksi, sampai penjualan.Maka dari uraian itu, peneliti ingin menganalisis dan merancang sistem informasi akuntansi pada usaha yang tidak memiliki sistem informasi akuntansi dan masih melakukan pencatatan secara manual. Peneliti menggunakan data sistem akuntansi Konveksi Anemarie periode April 2017 dan Model Driven Development untuk merancang Sistem Informasi Akuntansi konveksi Anemarie. Hasil pengembangan Sistem Informasi Akuntansi dengan Model Driven Development ini ialah Desain Model Data dengan Entity Relathionship diagram baik secara keseluruhan maupun per subsistem, Desain model Proses dengan Data Flow Diagram, dan desain model output dengan pembuatan interface dari form yang dibutuhka

What Insights Do Patients and Caregivers Have on Acute Kidney Injury and Posthospitalization Care? A Single-Centre Qualitative Study from Toronto, Canada

Objectives Hospitalisation with acute kidney injury (AKI) is associated with short-term and long-term adverse events, but patient and caregiver experiences with AKI are not well described. We sought to better understand patient and caregiver perspectives after a hospitalisation with AKI to inform discharge strategies that may improve outcomes for this high-risk population. Design Qualitative study with semistructured interviews. Setting Tertiary care hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Participants Adult patients (n=15) who survived a hospitalisation with Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes stage 2 or 3 AKI from May to December 2016. We also interviewed five patient caregivers. We required patients to have no previous evidence of severe chronic kidney disease (ie, prior receipt of dialysis, previous kidney transplantation or pre-existing estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) under 30 mL/min/1.73 m2). Results We identified three over-arching themes: (1) prioritisation of conditions other than AKI, reflected by the importance placed on other comorbidities and the omission of AKI as part of the ongoing medical history; (2) variability in comprehension of the significance of AKI, represented by minimal knowledge of the causes and symptoms associated with AKI, along with misinformation on the kidneys’ ability to self-repair; and (3) anxiety from discharge planning and competing health demands, illustrated by complicated discharge plans involving multiple specialist appointments. Conclusions Patients and caregivers view AKI as a short-term and reversible condition, giving it little thought during the postdischarge period. As a result, reliance on patients and caregivers to report an episode of AKI to their outpatient physicians is unlikely to be successful. Patient-centred tools and decision aids are needed to bridge the gap between a hospitalisation with AKI and the safe transition to the outpatient setting

Bias estimation in study design: a meta-epidemiological analysis of transcatheter versus surgical aortic valve replacement

Background: Paucity of RCTs of non-drug technologies lead to widespread dependence on non-randomized studies. Relationship between nonrandomized study design attributes and biased estimates of treatment effects are poorly understood. Our purpose was to estimate the bias associated with specific nonrandomized study attributes among studies comparing transcatheter aortic valve implantation with surgical aortic valve replacement for the treatment of severe aortic stenosis. Results: We included 6 RCTs and 87 nonrandomized studies. Surgical risk scores were similar for comparison groups in RCTs, but were higher for patients having transcatheter aortic valve implantation in nonrandomized studies. Nonrandomized studies underestimated the benefit of transcatheter aortic valve implantation compared with RCTs. For example, nonrandomized studies without adjustment estimated a higher risk of postoperative mortality for transcatheter aortic valve implantation compared with surgical aortic valve replacement (OR 1.43 [95% CI 1.26 to 1.62]) than high quality RCTs (OR 0.78 [95% CI 0.54 to 1.11). Nonrandomized studies using propensity score matching (OR 1.13 [95% CI 0.85 to 1.52]) and regression modelling (OR 0.68 [95% CI 0.57 to 0.81]) to adjust results estimated treatment effects closer to high quality RCTs. Nonrandomized studies describing losses to follow-up estimated treatment effects that were significantly closer to high quality RCT than nonrandomized studies that did not. Conclusion: Studies with different attributes produce different estimates of treatment effects. Study design attributes related to the completeness of follow-up may explain biased treatment estimates in nonrandomized studies, as in the case of aortic valve replacement where high-risk patients were preferentially selected for the newer (transcatheter) procedure

Variation in Prices Charged to Patients for Specialty Intraocular Lenses Inserted during Universally Covered Cataract Surgery

Patients often pay for specialty intraocular lenses (IOLs) for cataract surgery covered by universal insurance. This practice creates the potential for inequitable pricing where the medical service provider is also the retailer. We measured the variation in prices between cataract surgeons for the same IOL and associated testing.We telephoned every cataract surgeon in Ontario, Canada, and asked their price for the most common type of specialty IOL as a prospective patient. We measured the total prices quoted and variation between providers.We contacted 404 ophthalmologists. There were 256 that performed cataract surgery but 127 offered the most commonly employed specialty IOL and would provide a price to patients over the telephone. We obtained prices from all 127 ophthalmologists. Prices for the same lens and associated testing varied substantially between ophthalmologists from $358 to$2790 (median $615, interquartile range$528-$915). There was variation in all components of the total out-of-pocket price, including the price for the IOL itself, charges for uninsured eye measurements, and non-specific supplemental fees.Although cataract surgery is covered by public health insurance, some ophthalmologists charge much more than others for the same specialty IOL and associated testing. Greater access to price information and better regulatory control could help ensure patients receive fair value for out-of-pocket health expenses

Potential Savings of Harmonising Hospital and Community Formularies for Chronic Disease Medications Initiated in Hospital

Hospitals in Canada manage their formularies independently, yet many inpatients are discharged on medications which will be purchased through publicly-funded programs. We sought to determine how much public money could be saved on chronic medications if hospitals promoted the initiation of agents with the lowest outpatient formulary prices.We used administrative databases for the province of Ontario to identify patients initiated on a proton pump inhibitor (PPI), angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) following hospital admission from April 1(st) 2008-March 31(st) 2009. We assessed the cost to the Ontario Drug Benefit Program (ODB) over the year following initiation and determined the cost savings if prescriptions were substituted with the least expensive agent in each class.The cost for filling all PPI, ACE inhibitor and ARB prescriptions was $2.48 million,$968 thousand and $325 thousand respectively. Substituting the least expensive agent could have saved$1.16 million (47%) for PPIs, $162 thousand (17$14 thousand (4%) for ARBs over the year following discharge.In a setting where outpatient prescriptions are publicly funded, harmonising outpatient formularies with inpatient therapeutic substitution resulted in modest cost savings and may be one way to control rising pharmaceutical costs

Quality of Pharmaceutical Industry Press Releases Based on Original Research

Background: Press releases are a popular vehicle to disseminate health information to the lay media. While the quality of press releases issued by scientific conferences and medical journals has been questioned, no efforts to assess pharmaceutical industry press releases have been made. Therefore, we sought to systematically examine pharmaceutical company press releases about original research for measures of quality. Methodolgy/Principal Findings: Press releases issued by the ten top selling, international pharmaceutical companies in the year 2005 were selected for evaluation. A total of 1028 electronic press releases were issued and 235 were based on original research. More than half (59%) reported results presented at a scientific meeting. Twenty-one percent of releases were not explicit about the source of original data. While harms or adverse events were commonly cited (76%), study limitations were rarely noted (6%). Almost one-third (29%) of releases did not quantify study results. Studies presented in abstract form were subsequently published within at least 20 months in 53 % of cases. Conclusions: Pharmaceutical company press releases frequently report basic study details. However, readers should be cautioned by the preliminary nature of the data and lack of identified limitations. Methods to improve the reporting and interpretation of drug company press releases are desirable to prevent misleading media coverage