Completeness of prescription information in US commercial claims databases

Lauffenburger, Julie C.; Balasubramanian, Akhila; Farley, Joel F.; Critchlow, Cathy W.; O’Malley, Cynthia D.; Roth, Mary T.; Pate, Virginia; Brookhart, M. Alan

doi:10.1002/pds.3458

Cited by 64 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…23,24 Some warfarin fills may also not be captured due to market influences and cash payments, such as low-cost generic programs in pharmacies. 25,26 The ATRIA score has been used less frequently but has been shown to be better validated in claims data. 9,11 While we could not measure provider preferences directly or cluster by provider, our study sought to disentangle how patient characteristics influenced selection.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Driving Anticoagulant Selection in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation in the United States

Lauffenburger

Farley

Gehi

et al. 2015

The American Journal of Cardiology

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With the introduction of novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs), the factors driving anticoagulant selection in atrial fibrillation (AF) in real-world practice are unclear. The goal was to examine whether and to what extent utilization has been driven by predictions of stroke risk (treatment benefit), bleeding risk (treatment harm), or prescription benefits’ coverage. We extracted a cohort of non-valvular AF patients initiating anticoagulation from Oct 2010-Dec 2012 from a large US database of commercial and Medicare supplement claims. Multivariable regression examined associations between ischemic stroke (CHA2DS2-VASc) and bleeding (ATRIA) risk scores and benefits’ generosity (proportion of costs covered by patients relative to total) with warfarin and NOAC selection and also between dabigatran and rivaroxaban. C-statistics and partial chi-square statistics were used to assess the variation explained. Of 70,498 patients initiating anticoagulation, 29.9% and 7.9% used dabigatran and rivaroxaban, respectively. Compared with warfarin, patients were less likely to receive a NOAC with high ischemic stroke risk (CHA2DS2-VASc ≥2) (Adjusted Relative Risk [aRR]: 0.75, 95% CI: 0.72-0.77) and high bleeding risk (ATRIA≥5) (aRR: 0.66, 95% CI: 0.64-0.69) but more likely with good benefits’ generosity (≤20% of costs borne by patient) (aRR: 2.03, 95% CI: 1.92-2.16). Prescription generosity explained almost twice the model variation as either risk score. Compared with dabigatran, patients were more likely to fill rivaroxaban with high bleeding risk (aRR: 1.16, 95% CI: 1.09-1.24). In conclusion, patients with higher bleeding and ischemic stroke risk were more likely to initiate warfarin, but generous benefits more strongly predicted NOAC usage and drove more selection.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Driving Anticoagulant Selection in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation in the United States

Lauffenburger

Farley

Gehi

et al. 2015

The American Journal of Cardiology

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“…Warfarin and anti-platelet use was observed to assess switching behaviors. Because warfarin is widely available through low-cost generic programs and may be absent from pharmaceutical claims data, 22–24 we considered INR tests during the follow-up period as a proxy for warfarin fills. This methodology has been shown to have high sensitivity and specificity.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adherence to Rivaroxaban, Dabigatran, and Apixaban for Stroke Prevention in Incident, Treatment-Naïve Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation

Brown

Shewale

Talbert

2016

JMCP

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BACKGROUND Non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) are widely used for prevention of stroke secondary to nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). Increased use of NOACs is partially a result of simplified regimens compared with warfarin, which has been associated with poor adherence and persistence to therapy. Few studies have assessed adherence to NOACs, especially using contemporary data now that multiple NOACs are available. OBJECTIVE To evaluate adherence to NOACs in a cohort of newly diagnosed NVAF patients who are commercially insured. METHODS Incident, treatment-naïve NVAF patients were identified in 2013 from a large claims database. Patients were included who initiated rivaroxaban, dabigatran, or apixaban within 30 days after diagnosis. Subjects were required to have 12 months of pre-index information to assess demographic and clinical characteristics (comorbidities, CHA2DS2-VASc, and HAS-BLED scores). Adherence to the index medication and adherence to any oral anticoagulant was assessed using proportion of days covered (PDC) at 3, 6, and 9 months. The number of switches and gaps in therapy were also evaluated. Analyses were stratified by stroke risk scores, and a logistic regression model was used to control for factors that may predict high adherence (PDC ≥ 0.80). RESULTS A total of 3,455 rivaroxaban, 1,264 dabigatran, and 504 apixaban users were included with no major clinical or demographic differences between groups. At 3, 6, and 9 months of follow-up, dabigatran had lower adherence (PDC = 0.77, 0.67, and 0.62) compared with rivaroxaban (PDC = 0.84, 0.75, and 0.70; P < 0.001) and apixaban (PDC = 0.82, 0.75, and 0.71; P < 0.001), as well as nearly twice the number of switches to either other anticoagulants or antiplatelet therapy. At 9 months, 55.0% of rivaroxaban initiators had PDC ≥ 0.80, which was comparable with 56.8% for apixaban and significantly greater than 46.7% for dabigatran (P < 0.001). Adherence was higher overall as stroke risk increased and showed dabigatran had consistently lower adherence compared with the other NOACs. Overall adherence to any oral anticoagulants, allowing for switches to another NOAC or warfarin, was not dependent on the index medication (9-month PDC = 0.74, 0.71, and 0.74 for rivaroxaban, dabigatran, and apixaban initiators). Adjusted analyses showed that increasing age and comorbid hypertension and diabetes were associated with higher adherence. Compared with rivaroxaban, dabigatran initiators had nearly 30% lower odds of being adherent to their index medication, and no differences were observed between apixaban and rivaroxaban. At 9 months, there were no differences between NOACs for overall adherence to oral anticoagulants. CONCLUSIONS In this real-world analysis of adherence to NOACs, rivaroxaban and apixaban had favorable profiles compared with dabigatran, and rivaroxaban appeared to have higher overall adherence among the NOACs. Clinicians and managed care organizations should consider the implications of lower adherence on clinical outc...

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“…19,29 Lauffenburger et al (2013) observed that approximately 10% of individuals with claims for international normalized ratio tests did not have a corresponding prescription claim for warfarin, which is consistent with our observed proportion of LCGP fills for warfarin in the current study. 30 We expanded on the previous studies of LCGP use by considering demographic and clinical characteristics, trend of LCGP use over time, and the specific medication classes filled through these programs. 19,29 Zhang et al (2012) evaluated LCGP use in Medicare Part D claims in 2008 and found that about 16% of beneficiaries used a $4 generic medication.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low-Cost Generic Program Use by Medicare Beneficiaries: Implications for Medication Exposure Misclassification in Administrative Claims Data

Pauly

Talbert

Brown

2016

JMCP

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BACKGROUND Administrative claims data are used for a wide variety of research and quality assurance purposes; however, they are prone to medication exposure misclassification if medications are purchased without using an insurance benefit. Low-cost generic drug programs (LCGPs) offered at major chain pharmacies are a relatively new and sparsely investigated source of exposure misclassification. LCGP medications are often purchased out of pocket; thus, a pharmacy claim may never be submitted, and the exposure may go unobserved in claims data. As heavy users of medications, Medicare beneficiaries have much to gain from the affordable medications offered through LCGPs. This use may put them at increased risk of exposure misclassification in claims data. Many high-risk medications (HRMs) and medications tracked for adherence and utilization quality metrics are available through LCGPs, and exposure misclassification of these medications may impact the quality assurance efforts reliant on administrative claims data. Presently, there is little information regarding the use of these programs among a geriatric population. OBJECTIVES To (a) quantify the prevalence of LCGP users in a nationally representative population of Medicare beneficiaries; (b) compare clinical and demographic characteristics of LCGP users and nonusers; (c) assess determinants of LCGP use and medications acquired through these programs; and (d) analyze patterns of LCGP use during the years 2007-2012. METHODS This study relied on data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) from 2007 to 2012. The first 3 objectives were completed with a cohort of individuals in the most recent MEPS panel, while the fourth objective was completed with a separate cohort composed of individuals who participated in MEPS from 2007 to 2012. Inclusion in either study cohort required that individuals were Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 years or greater, used at least 1 prescription drug during their 2-year panel period, and participated in all 5 rounds of data collection during their panel period. MEPS captures medication utilization by surveying individuals on current and previous medication use and verifies this information at the pharmacy level, so prescription fills can be observed irrespective of payment by an insurer or a filed claim. Pharmaceutical utilization was assessed at the individual level for each year of the study period, and LCGP use was recorded as a binary variable for each individual. An LCGP medication fill was identified if the total cost of the drug was paid out of pocket and matched the cost of medications listed on LCGP formularies available from major pharmacy retailers during these years. Cohort demographics and characteristics of interest included age, gender, race, employment status, marital status, family income level, education level, residence in a metropolitan statistical area, geographic region, prescription drug coverage, Medicare type, comorbidities, number of unique medications used, and number of medication fills. Comparison...

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Completeness of prescription information in US commercial claims databases

Cited by 64 publications

References 24 publications

Factors Driving Anticoagulant Selection in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation in the United States

Factors Driving Anticoagulant Selection in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation in the United States

Adherence to Rivaroxaban, Dabigatran, and Apixaban for Stroke Prevention in Incident, Treatment-Naïve Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation

Low-Cost Generic Program Use by Medicare Beneficiaries: Implications for Medication Exposure Misclassification in Administrative Claims Data

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