PHAR’s research was well represented at ISPOR’s annual meeting with six posters total. PHAR presented a self-funded study describing an adaptation of the RAND/UCLA Delphi panel method for virtual use. PHAR’s outcomes research team also presented a systematic literature review assessing the value of next-generation sequencing in advanced cancer, and a validated claims algorithm to identify patients with severe hemophilia A. PHAR’s real world evidence team presented three secondary data analysis studies, which summarized the burden associated with misdiagnosing neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders, measured healthcare utilization and costs of diagnosing AL amyloidosis in the inpatient setting, and described treatment patterns in newly treated patients with Parkinson’s disease. All of these posters can be found on the PHAR publications page, and accompanying abstracts will be published in the ISPOR supplement of Value in Health.
News
PHAR Discusses Discrimination in CEAs
In collaboration with Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, PHAR developed an issue brief discussing how cost-effectiveness analyses can perpetuate health inequities. Cost-effectiveness analyses are commonly used to compare interventions, but fail to account for a diverse patient population. Read the issue brief here.
Comprehensive Study Establishes Cost of Late Detection and Treatment of Cancer
An analysis of 2 million Medicare beneficiaries establishes the cost of cancer by stage and time since diagnosis for 17 common cancers. The later the stage at diagnosis, the higher the cost, and this cost difference lasts for at least five years after diagnosis. Earlier diagnosis and treatment of cancer saves not just lives, but also a significant amount of money.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Cancer is the second leading cause of death and cancer care costs $1 trillion annually.
PHAR, a leading health services research consultancy, and GRAIL, a healthcare company whose mission is to detect cancer early when it can be cured, conducted an analysis of the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) registry and linked Medicare data. Using these linked data sources, researchers systematically estimated the annual cost of care for 17 invasive cancers. The analysis was published in Current Medical Research and Opinion in April 2022. The study establishes a single resource for healthcare professionals, researchers, and payers in addition to providing a starting point to measure the benefit of early cancer detection.
Dr. Michael S. Broder, MD, MSHS, President of PHAR, notes, “Now, any agency or organization hoping to reduce the cost of cancer knows what the current cost is. That’s never been analyzed and presented in this way before.”
He continues, “The study establishes that later diagnosis means higher costs for years to come.” Diagnosis at a later stage is up to seven times more expensive than diagnosis at an earlier stage, and that cost remains higher for at least five years after diagnosis.
The study was conducted in collaboration with GRAIL, Inc., developer of the Galleri test, which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze DNA data from a blood draw to detect more than 50 types of cancers. This technology can reduce cancer burden worldwide and improve patient outcomes; PHAR’s in-depth cost analysis allows for the scientific community to measure by how much.
PHAR Leads Discussion on Algorithm Validation in Secondary Data Analysis
PHAR’s President, Michael S. Broder, MD, MSHS, mediated a webinar discussion today with panelists Eric Benchimol, MD, The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Karina Raimundo, MS, HEOR Director at Genentech, and Anil Vachani, MD, MS, of Penn Medicine on best practices surrounding ICD code validation in secondary data research using Medicare or commercial claims. Recently, Dr. Broder wrote on the importance of algorithm validation in claims analyses, which was published on HealthEconomics.com. The webinar attracted more than 80 professionals and academics in pharmacy, medical statistics, healthcare, and health economics insights. The recording of the webinar is available on-demand on InsideScientific.com, and the Q&A report available for download here.
PHAR Presents Neurology Research at AMCP 2022
Two studies conducted by PHAR were presented as posters at AMCP 2022. The first study, in partnership with Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, developed clinical consensus on the use of on-demand treatments for Parkinson’s disease (PD) by convening experts to participate in a RAND/UCLA modified Delphi panel. In most evaluated scenarios, panelists agreed on-demand treatment is appropriate for PD patients with OFF episodes, especially for patients experiencing a significant functional impact. The second study, in collaboration with Genentech, presented the interim results of their claims-based algorithm used to identify patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD). The algorithm helps distinguish patients with NMOSD from patients with multiple sclerosis and other central nervous system inflammatory disorders, allowing researchers and clinicians to better estimate NMOSD burden. The posters can be viewed on the PHAR publications page and abstracts printed in the March supplement issue of the Journal of Managed Care + Specialty Pharmacy.
PHAR Tests a Claims-Based Algorithm to Identify Patients with Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder
PHAR, in collaboration with Genentech, presented the interim results of their claims-based algorithm used to identify patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) at ACTRIMS 2022. The algorithm helps distinguish patients with NMOSD from patients with multiple sclerosis and other central nervous system inflammatory disorders, allowing researchers and clinicians to better estimate NMOSD burden. The poster can be viewed on the PHAR publications page and the abstract published in the May 2022 supplement of Multiple Sclerosis Journal Online.
PHAR Investigation Questions QALY Use in CEAs
Research conducted by PHAR and supported by Amgen was published in the February 2022 issue of Current Medical Research and Opinion. PHAR’s Jesse Ortendahl, Eunice Chang, PhD, Amanda Harmon, and Michael S. Broder, MD, MSHS analyzed disease burden across 8 different conditions using QALY assessments and other measurement instruments, uncovering possible biases and deficits that may result from the current precedent of using QALYs to measure disease impact in economic evaluations. The manuscript can be found on the PHAR publications page.
PHAR Assesses Healthcare Utilization and Cost Burden in Medicare Beneficiaries with HD
In collaboration with Genentech, PHAR published their analysis of Medicare FFS claims data examining healthcare utilization and costs in a US Medicare population diagnosed with Huntington’s disease (HD). Their investigation quantified healthcare needs and associated costs that were substantially higher among Medicare beneficiaries diagnosed with HD compared to those without, primarily driven by higher outpatient pharmacy utilization. In a stratified analysis, total healthcare costs were highest among beneficiaries with late-stage HD, reflecting the need for effective treatments that delay or prevent disease progression. Their findings can be read in the Journal of Medical Economics, and was previously presented in posters at the 2020 Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) conference.
PHAR Presents Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Research at ASH 2021
PHAR’s Sheila Reiss Reddy, PhD, RPh, Eunice Chang, PhD, and Marian Tarbox, MPP worked with collaborators at Bristol Myers Squibb to conduct an administrative claims study examining treatment patterns, including duration of dasatinib use after pleural effusion, and healthcare resource utilization and costs among patients with chronic myeloid leukemia treated with dasatinib who experienced a subsequent pleural effusion. The poster was presented at the 63rd Annual Meeting and Exposition of the American Society of Hematology and can be viewed on the PHAR publications page, and the accompanying abstract published in the November supplement issue of Blood.
PHAR Study Shows Antifibrotic Treatment Reduces Hospitalization and Death in Medicare Beneficiaries with IPF
PHAR’s Sheila Reiss Reddy, PhD, RPh, Eunice Chang, PhD, and Michael S. Broder, MD, MSHS, in collaboration with F. Hoffmann-La Roche/Genentech, Inc., compared mortality and hospitalization between Medicare beneficiaries with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) who initiated antifibrotic therapy and those who did not receive treatment. This retrospective observational study of Medicare beneficiaries using the 100% Medicare Research Identifiable Files showed that antifibrotic treatments reduce hospitalization and death among older patients with advanced age (>80 years), which is a population that has been excluded from key clinical trials despite being disproportionately affected by IPF. The study can be read in the December issue of the Journal of Managed Care + Specialty Pharmacy.