Clinical guidance from a PHAR research study on how to taper thrombopoietin receptor agonists (TPO-RAs) in immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) was presented at the 2020 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting & Exposition. PHAR developed this important guidance with clinical experts using the RAND/UCLA modified Delphi panel process. The consensus statements presented could serve as a guide for clinical care by identifying patients who could safely taper and discontinue TPO-RAs and help to inform the design and development of future clinical trials. The study was also published in the December 2020 issue of Research and Practice in Thrombosis and Haemostasis. The presentation and manuscript can be found on our publications page.
Archives for 2020
President of PHAR Urges Researchers Not to be Silent Against COVID
Michael S. Broder, MD, MSHS, president at PHAR, wrote a post on healtheconomics.com about how health economics and outcomes researchers can help defeat COVID-19. He pointed out the important role that HEOR professionals have in not being silent about facts related to COVID-19 and in helping lay people find reliable data sources instead of wading through misinformation. He stressed that health economics and outcomes researchers can help stop the pandemic and save lives by simply stopping misinformation from spreading and sharing facts instead. The post can be found here.
PHAR’s Interactive Bibliography Book Now Available
Since its establishment in 2004, PHAR has collaborated with many partners in academia and industry on a numerous number of studies. These studies have resulted in over 750 publications, covering nearly 100 different products, 90 health conditions, and more than 30 data sources, and appearing in more than 200 different journals and conferences. PHAR has compiled the publications into an interactive bibliography book titled, Health Services Research Insights. The bibliography book is organized thematically, with each of four main sections devoted to a different broad area of HEOR, then further broken down by type and clinical specialty. The book is available for download now here.
PHAR Presents Multiple Studies on the Pre-Diagnosis Patterns of Hereditary Transthyretin Amyloidosis
Results from a study done in partnership with Akcea Pharmaceuticals and focusing on the patient journey of patients newly diagnosed with hereditary transthyretin (ATTRv) amyloidosis have been presented at multiple virtual conferences this year, including the XVII International Symposium on Amyloidosis, the European Society of Cardiology’s HFA Discoveries platform, and the Heart Failure Society of America’s Annual Scientific Meeting. This is the first real-world study to examine pre-diagnostic characteristics and healthcare utilization in this population of patients. Using commercial claims data, PHAR and Akcea found that patients with ATTRv amyloidosis experience substantial comorbidity, testing, and hospitalization prior to diagnosis. These patients also face considerable cardiovascular burden in the 5 years preceding diagnosis. These posters can be found on the PHAR publications page. A manuscript further detailing this study is currently planned for publication in a peer-reviewed journal later this year.
PHAR Studies Presented at MDS Virtual Congress 2020
Two secondary data analysis studies conducted by PHAR, in partnership with Genentech, Inc, were presented at MDS Virtual Congress 2020. The first study investigated healthcare utilization and costs in Medicare beneficiaries with Huntington’s disease at the end-of-life. This study showed most beneficiaries at the end-of-life had late-stage disease and healthcare utilization and costs were greater in the last three months of life compared to the three months prior. The second study investigated the epidemiology of Huntington’s disease among Medicaid beneficiaries. This study showed that the prevalence of Huntington’s disease in the Medicaid population is higher than previously reported in other populations. The posters for these studies can be found on the PHAR publications page.
PHAR Presents Various Abstracts and Posters at Virtual ISPOR
Many studies conducted by PHAR were presented at Virtual ISPOR 2020 HEOR: Advancing Evidence to Action and in the journal Value in Health. The topics covered a variety of range, including breast cancer, arthritis, COPD, and many more. One of the studies presented at ISPOR was a secondary data analysis done in partnership with Genentech, Inc., which investigated the healthcare utilization and costs by disease stage in Medicare beneficiaries with Huntington’s disease. This study showed that beneficiaries with late-stage disease had significantly higher healthcare utilization and cost burden compared to those with early- or middle-stage disease. The poster on healthcare utilization and costs as well as the abstracts published in Value in Health can be found on the PHAR publications page.