Project description:BackgroundDrugs are the fastest growing cost in the Canadian health care system, owing to the increasing number of high-cost drugs. The objective of this study was to examine the characteristics of high-drug-cost beneficiaries of public drug plans across Canada relative to other beneficiaries.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study among public drug plan beneficiaries residing in all provinces except Quebec. We used the Canadian Institute for Health Information's National Prescription Drug Utilization Information System to identify all drugs dispensed to beneficiaries of public drug programs in 2016/17. We stratified the cohort into 2 groups: high-drug-cost beneficiaries (top 5% of beneficiaries based on annual costs) and other beneficiaries (remaining 95%). For each group, we reported total drug costs, prevalence of high-cost claims (> $1000), median number of drugs, proportion of beneficiaries aged 65 or more, the 10 most costly reimbursed medications and the 10 medications most commonly reimbursed. We reported estimates overall and by province.ResultsHigh-drug-cost beneficiaries accounted for nearly half (46.5%) of annual spending, with an average annual spend of $14 610 per beneficiary, compared to $1570 among other beneficiaries. The median number of drugs dispensed was higher among high-drug-cost beneficiaries than among other beneficiaries (13 [interquartile range (IQR) 7-19] v. 8 [IQR 4-13]), and a much larger proportion of high-drug-cost beneficiaries than other beneficiaries received at least 1 high-cost claim (40.9% v. 0.6%). Long-term medications were the most commonly used medications for both groups, whereas biologics and antivirals were the most costly medications for high-drug-cost beneficiaries.InterpretationHigh-drug-cost beneficiaries were characterized by the use of expensive medications and polypharmacy relative to other beneficiaries. Interventions and policies to help reduce spending need to consider both of these factors.

Project description:BackgroundLimited data are available on adverse events among children admitted to hospital. The Canadian Paediatric Adverse Events Study was done to describe the epidemiology of adverse events among children in hospital in Canada.MethodsWe performed a 2-stage medical record review at 8 academic pediatric centres and 14 community hospitals in Canada. We reviewed charts from patients admitted from April 2008 through March 2009, evenly distributed across 4 age groups (0 to 28 d; 29 to 365 d; > 1 to 5 yr and > 5 to 18 yr). In stage 1, nurses and health records personnel who had received training in the use of the Canadian Paediatric Trigger Tool reviewed medical records to detect triggers for possible adverse events. In stage 2, physicians reviewed the charts identified as having triggers and described the adverse events.ResultsA total of 3669 children were admitted to hospital during the study period. The weighted rate of adverse events was 9.2%. Adverse events were more frequent in academic pediatric centres than in community hospitals (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 2.98, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.65-5.39). The incidence of preventable adverse events was not significantly different between types of hospital, but nonpreventable adverse events were more common in academic pediatric centres (adjusted OR 4.39, 95% CI 2.08-9.27). Surgical events predominated overall and occurred more frequently in academic pediatric centres than in community hospitals (37.2% v. 21.5%, relative risk [RR] 1.7, 95% CI 1.0-3.1), whereas events associated with diagnostic errors were significantly less frequent (11.1% v. 23.1%, RR 0.5, 95% CI 0.2-0.9).InterpretationMore children have adverse events in academic pediatric centres than in community hospitals; however, adverse events in the former are less likely to be preventable. There are many opportunities to reduce harm affecting children in hospital in Canada, particularly related to surgery, intensive care and diagnostic error.

Project description:ObjectiveTwo-thirds of the economic resources in Norwegian hospitals are used on 10% of the patients. Most of these high-cost patients are older adults, which experience more unplanned hospital admissions, longer hospital stays and higher readmission rates than other patients. This study aims to examine the individual and clinical characteristics of older patients with unplanned admissions to Norwegian somatic hospitals and how these characteristics differ between high-cost and low-cost older patients.DesignObservational cross-sectional study.SettingNorwegian somatic hospitals.ParticipantsNational registry data of older Norwegian patients (≥65 years) with ≥1 unplanned contact with somatic hospitals in 2019 (n=2 11 738).Primary outcome measureHigh-cost older patients were defined as those within the 10% of the highest diagnosis-related group weights in 2019 (n=21 179). We compared high-cost to low-cost older patients using bivariate analyses and logistic regression analysis.ResultsMen were more likely to be high-cost older patients than women (OR=1.25, 95% CI 1.21 to 1.29) and the oldest (90+ years) compared with the youngest older adults (65-69 years) were less likely to cause high costs (OR=0.47, 95% CI 0.43 to 0.51). Those with the highest level of education were less likely to cause high costs than those with primary school degrees (OR=0.74, 95% CI 0.69 to 0.80). Main diagnosis group (OR=3.50, 95% CI 3.37 to 3.63) and dying (OR=4.13, 95% CI 3.96 to 4.30) were the clinical characteristics most strongly associated with the likelihood of being a high-cost older patient.ConclusionSeveral of the observed patient characteristics in this study may warrant further investigation as they might contribute to high healthcare costs. For example, MDGs, reflecting comprehensive healthcare needs and lower education, which is associated with poorer health status, increase the likelihood of being high-cost older patients. Our results indicate that Norwegian hospitals function according to the intentions of those having the highest needs receiving most services.

Project description:ImportanceIdentifying high priority pediatric conditions is important for setting a research agenda in hospital pediatrics that will benefit families, clinicians, and the health care system. However, the last such prioritization study was conducted more than a decade ago and used International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes.ObjectivesTo identify conditions that should be prioritized for comparative effectiveness research based on prevalence, cost, and variation in cost of hospitalizations using contemporary data at US children's hospitals.Design, setting, and participantsThis retrospective cohort study of children with hospital encounters used data from the Pediatric Health Information System database. Children younger than 18 years with inpatient hospital encounters at 45 tertiary care US children's hospitals between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2019, were included. Data were analyzed from March 2020 to April 2021.Main outcomes and measuresThe condition-specific prevalence and total standardized cost, the corresponding prevalence and cost ranks, and the variation in standardized cost per encounter across hospitals were analyzed. The variation in cost was assessed using the number of outlier hospitals and intraclass correlation coefficient.ResultsThere were 2 882 490 inpatient hospital encounters (median [interquartile range] age, 4 [1-12] years; 1 554 024 [53.9%] boys) included. Among the 50 most prevalent and 50 most costly conditions (total, 74 conditions), 49 (66.2%) were medical, 15 (20.3%) were surgical, and 10 (13.5%) were medical/surgical. The top 10 conditions by cost accounted for $12.4 billion of $33.4 billion total costs (37.4%) and 592 815 encounters (33.8% of all encounters). Of 74 conditions, 4 conditions had an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.30 or higher (ie, major depressive disorder: ICC, 0.49; type 1 diabetes with complications: ICC, 0.36; diabetic ketoacidosis: ICC, 0.33; acute appendicitis without peritonitis: ICC, 0.30), and 9 conditions had an ICC higher than 0.20 (scoliosis: ICC, 0.27; hypertrophy of tonsils and adenoids: ICC, 0.26; supracondylar fracture of humerus: ICC, 0.25; cleft lip and palate: ICC, 0.24; acute appendicitis with peritonitis: ICC, 0.21). Examples of conditions high in prevalence, cost, and variation in cost included major depressive disorder (cost rank, 19; prevalence rank, 10; ICC, 0.49), scoliosis (cost rank, 6; prevalence rank, 38; ICC, 0.27), acute appendicitis with peritonitis (cost rank, 13; prevalence rank, 11; ICC, 0.21), asthma (cost rank, 10; prevalence rank, 2; ICC, 0.17), and dehydration (cost rank, 24; prevalence rank, 8; ICC, 0.18).Conclusions and relevanceThis cohort study found that major depressive disorder, scoliosis, acute appendicitis with peritonitis, asthma, and dehydration were high in prevalence, costs, and variation in cost. These results could help identify where future comparative effectiveness research in hospital pediatrics should be targeted to improve the care and outcomes of hospitalized children.

Project description:BackgroundThere is a growing interest in high income countries to control expenditure on medicines by improving the rationale for their selection. However, in middle income countries with differing priorities and needs, little attention has been paid to this issue. In this paper we explore the policies and processes for the selection and use of medicines in a group of hospitals in Chile, a middle income country which has recently joined the OECD.MethodsA combination of qualitative and quantitative methods was used. A national survey questionnaire was distributed to investigate the role and operation of PTCs (Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committees). Interviews were conducted with key actors in the selection of medicines in large urban public hospitals.ResultsThe national survey had an overall response rate of 42% (83 out of 196), whilst 7 out of 14 hospitals participated in the qualitative study. High complexity hospitals are large urban hospitals; all of which claim to have a working PTC. The pharmacy offices are mainly involved in dispensing medicines with little involvement in clinical duties.The interviews conducted suggest that the formulary of all the hospitals visited is no more than a stock list. PTCs are unable to influence the prescribing practices of doctors. Members do not feel prepared to challenge the opinions of specialists requesting a certain drug, and decisions are based primarily on costs. The inclusion of medicines in the clinical practice of hospitals is as a result of doctors bypassing the PTC and requesting the purchase of exceptional items, some of which are included in the formulary if they are widely used.ConclusionsThere is an urgent need to develop medicine policies in hospitals in Chile. The procedures used to purchase medicines need to be revised. Central guidance for PTCs could help ensure a more rational use of medicines. PTCs need to be empowered to design formularies which cover all the clinical needs of doctors, training members in the analysis of scientific evidence beyond their own specialities. An influential PTC can take the appropriate measures and design workable policies to enforce a cost effective-use of resources.

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High-Cost Drug Policies in Canadian Children’s Hospitals: An Exploratory Study

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