PHAR

Partnership for Health Analytic Research

Archives for 2021

PHAR Uses Delphi Panel to Develop Order Set for Acute Pain Management for Patients with Sickle Cell Admitted to the ED

PHAR’s David Beenhouwer, MD, Michael S. Broder, MD, MSHS, Sarah N. Gibbs, MPH, and Irina Yermilov, MD, MPH, in collaboration with Novartis Pharmaceuticals, organized a multidisciplinary panel of practicing emergency department (ED) clinicians and used the modified Delphi panel process to develop an order set for managing acute pain in sickle cell disease (SCD) patients in the ED. Painful, incapacitating vaso-occlusive episodes (VOEs) are a hallmark of SCD. Recommended treatment within 30 minutes of triage is rarely achieved in clinical practice; ED order sets may facilitate better VOE management. The description of the process and resulting order set was published in the Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open and can be read here. The resulting order set is presently undergoing review, adoption, and implementation in several NYC EDs.

PHAR Study Shows Medicare Beneficiaries with ATTR Have Considerable Cardiovascular Disease Burden Prior to Diagnosis

PHAR’s Sheila Reiss Reddy, PhD, RPh, Eunice Chang, PhD, and Marian Tarbox, MPP worked with collaborators at Akcea Therapeutics, Inc., to conduct a retrospective analysis using Medicare claims data to identify cardiovascular conditions within 3 years prior to a transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR) diagnosis. Findings show Medicare beneficiaries with ATTR have considerable cardiovascular conditions prior to diagnosis. Awareness of characteristic cardiovascular symptoms could lead to earlier diagnosis and prompt intervention. Results were presented as a poster at the virtual Heart Failure Congress 2021, and can be viewed here.

PHAR Presents Study on How Nurses Are Well Positioned to Uncover ATTRv in Heart Failure Patients

PHAR’s Sheila Reiss Reddy, PhD, RPh, Eunice Chang, PhD, and Marian Tarbox, MPP, in collaboration with investigators at Akcea Therapeutics, Inc., presented at the American Association of Heart Failure Nurses 17th Annual Meeting. The study found that patients diagnosed with hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTRv [variant]) have considerable cardiovascular disease burden in the 5 years preceding diagnosis. Heart failure nurses’ recognition of ATTRv cardiovascular manifestations may increase clinical suspicion, leading to earlier diagnosis. The poster can be found here, and the abstract published in Heart & Lung‘s July/August 2021 issue.

PHAR Delphi Panel Estimates Dwell Time in 21 Cancer Types

PHAR’s Michael S. Broder, MD, MSHS, Sarah N. Gibbs, MPH, and Irina Yermilov, MD, MPH, in collaboration with GRAIL, estimated the progression rate of 20 solid cancers and lymphoma during the period before the cancers are diagnosed. As this period can’t be directly observed, the authors organized a RAND/UCLA modified Delphi panel to have experts provide estimates of progression rates. These estimates may be useful when determining the appropriate interval for cancer screening tests. The abstract was published in the May 2021 supplement issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology and can be read here.

PHAR Medical Record Review Compares Prognosis of RA Patients Treated with Abatacept vs TNFis

PHAR’s Michael S. Broder, MD, MSHS, Eunice Chang, PhD, Sarah N. Gibbs, MPH, and Irina Yermilov, MD, MPH, in collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb, conducted a study on real-world treatment patterns of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The investigators performed a multi-center retrospective medical record review, assessing treatment persistence in adult patients with RA complicated by poor prognostic factors. They found that patients on abatacept, including the subgroup of patients with poor prognostic factors, stayed on treatment longer and had a lower risk of discontinuation due to disease progression than patients on tumor necrosis factor-inhibitors. Their findings were published in the Journal of Health Economics and Outcomes Research and can be read here.

National Burden of Achondroplasia Research Presented at Virtual ISPOR

Alongside PHAR’s first virtual exhibit presence at Virtual ISPOR 2021, PHAR investigators presented their findings outlining the national burden of achondroplasia in adults and children, done in conjunction with BioMarin Pharmaceutical. Their examination of the National Inpatient Sample, the largest all-payer inpatient healthcare database in the US, provided the first national estimate of the cost or burden of hospitalization and surgery in adults and children with achondroplasia. They estimated that the annual cost of hospitalization alone was $40 million. The iPoster can be viewed here, and the abstract was published in the May 2021 supplement issue of Value in Health.

PHAR Presents Findings on Transthyretin-Amyloid Cardiomyopathy and Cardiovascular Symptoms at ACC.21

PHAR’s Sheila Reiss Reddy, PhD, RPh, Eunice Chang, PhD, and Marian Tarbox, MPP, in collaboration with investigators at Akcea Therapeutics, Inc., conducted two studies investigating cardiovascular complications associated with transthyretin-mediated (ATTR) amyloidosis. Their first study analyzed a large US insurance claims database to identify patients with ATTR amyloidosis and cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) and to estimate the US prevalence and incidence of ATTR-CM. Their second study examined cardiovascular symptom manifestation and healthcare use leading up to an ATTR diagnosis among Medicare beneficiaries in the US. Their findings were presented as posters at American College of Cardiology’s 70th Annual Scientific Session & Expo and can be found on the PHAR publications page, and published as abstracts in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology‘s May 2021 supplement issue.

Multiple PHAR Studies Presented at American Academy of Neurology’s 2021 Annual Meeting

PHAR presented research on transthyretin-mediated (ATTR) amyloidosis and Huntington’s disease (HD) at the virtual 2021 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology. PHAR’s Sheila Reiss Reddy, PhD, RPh, Eunice Chang, PhD, and Marian Tarbox, MPP, in partnership with Akcea Therapeutics, Inc., investigated the feasibility of estimating ATTR amyloidosis prevalence and incidence using IBM® MarketScan® Commercial and Medicare databases. They also presented research on the clinical characteristics and resource use patterns among Medicare beneficiaries with ATTR amyloidosis in the years before diagnosis. In addition, PHAR’s Sheila Reiss Reddy, PhD, RPh, and Eunice Chang, PhD, in partnership with Genentech, Inc., presented their findings on healthcare resource use among US Medicare beneficiaries with late-onset HD. The posters for these studies can be found on the PHAR publications page, and the abstracts were published in Neurology’s April 2021 supplement issue.