Compliance To Proton Pump Inhibitors Reduces Costs

A new study reveals that patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) who receive proton pump inhibitor (PPI) drugs require fewer health care services and incur lower costs if they conform to the recommended usage frequency.

Using health insurance claims data from over 40,000 adults with GERD, the Analysis Group and AstraZeneca authors investigated whether patients who are "compliant" to their PPI therapies, including omeprazole, esomeprazole, lansoprazole, pantoprazole, and rabeprazole, by regularly taking the drug as directed by their physician, offer greater cost savings to payers compared to "non-compliant" patients.

They found that although patients compliant with PPIs had higher drug costs, they had fewer hospital admissions and outpatient visits, which translates into a net economic benefit of an approximately $855 reduction in annual cost per patient relative to PPI non-compliant patients.

"Given the large numbers of people who take PPIs, this study suggests that increasing compliance can be an effective way to improve the management of GERD, reduce costs, and improve health," said Dr. Mei Sheng Duh, co-author of the study and Vice President of Analysis Group, Inc., a national economic consulting firm.

This study, "The Impact of Proton Pump Inhibitor Compliance on Health Care Resource Utilization and Costs in Patients with Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease," will be discussed in Value in Health, the official journal of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research. The study was funded by AstraZeneca.

Value in Health (ISSN 1098-3015) publishes papers, concepts, and ideas that advance the field of pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research and help health care leaders to make decisions that are solidly evidence-based. The journal is published bi-monthly and has a regular readership of over 3,000 clinicians, decision-makers, and researchers worldwide.

ISPOR is a nonprofit, international organization that strives to translate pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research into practice to ensure that society allocates scarce health care resources wisely, fairly, and efficiently.

Analysis Group provides economic consulting to leading corporations, government agencies, and law firms. The firm has more than 400 professionals, with offices in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Menlo Park, New York, San Francisco, Washington, and Montreal.