Jeffrey S. McCombs

The costs of interrupting antihypertensive drug therapy in a Medicaid population.

This research explores the association between the interruption or termination of antihypertensive drug therapy and total health care costs among non-institutionalized Medicaid patients older than age 40 who survive the first year after treatment. Multivariate regression analysis was used to estimate the statistical relationship between post-treatment costs and patient demographic characteristics, prior use of services, the type of medication used as initial therapy and whether the patient maintained continuous therapy. Paid claims data from the California Medicaid (Medi-Cal) program were used in the analysis. Total cost of health care in the first year after the initiation of drug therapy was the primary outcome variable. Components of total costs (e.g., hospital, outpatient and physician services, prescription drugs) were also investigated. Nearly 86% of new antihypertensive drug therapy patients interrupted or discontinued purchasing any form of antihypertensive medication during the first year. Patients with interrupted antihypertensive drug therapy consumed an additional

Treatment cost of acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis

873 per patient (P < .0001) in health care during the first year, not counting a reduction in prescription drug cost of

PARI 3: COMPLIANCE WITH DRUG THERAPIES FOR THE TREATMENT AND PREVENTION OF OSTEOPOROSIS

281 (P < .0001). Increased costs were primarily due to increased hospital expenditures of

Compliance with Sulfonylureas in a Health Maintenance Organization: A Pharmacy Record–Based Study

637 (P < .0002).

The Risk of Long-term Morbidity and Mortality in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C: Results From an Analysis of Data From a Department of Veterans Affairs Clinical Registry

In 1994, the National Center for Health Statistics estimated that more than 14 million people (54 per thousand) had chronic bronchitis and sought treatment for 90.9% of their acute episodes. However, few studies have been done on the treatment cost of chronic bronchitis using national data. We conducted a retrospective analysis of claims for patients treated for acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis (AECB) to assess the frequency of services rendered and the costs to the health care system. Records were selected for the study based on a primary diagnosis of AECB according to the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, code. Medicare was the primary source of data on patients aged > or =65 years; data from the National Healthcare and Cost Utilization Project, the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, and the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey were used for patients aged <65 years. We calculated a total treatment cost of

Cost of treating bipolar disorder in the California Medicaid (Medi-Cal) program

1.2 billion for patients aged > or =65 years and

Classifying patients by antipsychotic adherence patterns using latent class analysis: characteristics of nonadherent groups in the California Medicaid (Medi-Cal) program.

419 million for patients aged <65 years. These calculations were based on the following: 280,839 hospital discharges resulting in hospital costs of

A1C and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Type 2 Diabetes: A nested case-control study

1.1 billion for the 207,540 patients aged > or =65 years, and

Economic Burden Associated With Patients Diagnosed With Hepatitis C

408 million for the 73,299 patients aged <65 years. The mean hospital length of stay was 6.3 days with a mean cost of

The Impact of Clinical Pharmacy Services Integrated into Medical Homes on Diabetes-Related Clinical Outcomes

5497 for patients aged > or =65 years and 5.8 days with a mean cost of