STATinMED Research http://www.statinmed.com Thu, 10 May 2012 18:28:33 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 April 2012 Newsletter http://www.statinmed.com/newsletters/april-2012-newsletter/ http://www.statinmed.com/newsletters/april-2012-newsletter/#comments Wed, 25 Apr 2012 21:40:12 +0000 SIMR http://www.statinmed.com/?p=1342  

Severity Index for Rheumatoid Arthritis (SIFRA)
and its Association with Healthcare Outcomes

 

Improves total variation explained in outcomes measures by 989%

 
In an article by STATinMED Research to be published in the Journal of Medical Economics next month, their claims-based severity index for rheumatoid arthritis (SIFRA) was found to have moderate correlations with the previously validated CIRAS score, and demonstrated evidence of being a significant determinant of total and rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-related healthcare costs for RA patients.

Using the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) database, STATinMED Research identified adult patients with at least two RA diagnoses 2 months apart between October 1, 2008 and September 30, 2009. Patients were required to have at least 12 months of continuous health plan enrollment before and after the index date (first RA diagnosis date) for an overall study period from October 1, 2007 to September 30, 2010.

SIFRA was developed by calculating a weighted sum of 34 RA-related indicators assessed by an expert Delphi panel of six rheumatologists, including laboratory, clinical and functional status, extra-articular manifestations, surgical history, and medications, during a 1-year pre-index period. Separate SIFRA versions were derived for patients with and without laboratory information.

 Correlations between SIFRA and previously validated claims-based indexes for RA severity (CIRAS), and other traditional comorbidity indexes were calculated during the pre-index period. The relationship between SIFRA and follow-up healthcare costs was also examined using histograms.

The Spearman’s rank correlations between SIFRA and CIRAS were 0.525 for SIFRA without and 0.539 with laboratory data. The correlations between SIFRA and the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) (0.1503 without, 0.1135 with laboratory data), Elixhauser Index (ELIX) (0.105 without, 0.079 with laboratory data) and Chronic Disease Score (CDS) (0.255 without, 0.239 with laboratory data) were low. Histograms showed that patients in the upper tercile of SIFRA incurred $9,123 more all-cause and $1,326 more RA-related healthcare costs during the 1-year post-index period than patients in the lower tercile. Using SIFRA in combination with CCI, CDS or ELIX significantly increased the percentage of variation explained in outcomes measures.

This study suggests that SIFRA, as developed by STATinMED Research, could be an important methodological tool to control for severity in RA-related outcomes research.

Figure 1. SIFRA Scores and Total Healthcare Costs

Figure 2. SIFRA Scores and RA-Related Healthcare Costs

Baser O, Du J, Xie L, Wang H, Dysinger AH, Wang L. Derivation of severity index for rheumatoid arthritis and its association with healthcare outcomes. J Med Econ. Forthcoming May 2012.

STATinMED Research has experience with the following datasets:

  • IN-HOUSE ACCESS: 100% national Medicare data, including Part D drug information (Inpatient, Outpatient, Provider, Denominator Files)
  • IN-HOUSE ACCESS: national Veterans Affairs (VA) data for 2006 through 2012 (Inpatient, outpatient, laboratory, pharmacy care, radiology, vital signs, enrollment, vital status)
  • MarketScan Data (Commercial, Medicare, Medicaid, Health and Productivity Management)
  • MarketScan Hospital Drug Data Set (Solucient data set)
  • United Health Data
  • IMS LifeLink Health Plan Claims Dataset (formerly PharMetrics)
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
  • Integrated Health Care Information Services (IHCIS) Impact Database
  • Life Science Research Database (formerly Lab Rx)
  • Premier Perspective Database
  • Electronic Medical Records (EMR)
  • Health Core Integrated Research Database
  • SEER-Medicare Database
  • Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey
  • Medical Expenditure Panel Survey
  • Long Term Care Minimum Data Set
  • National Alzheimer’s Coordination Center Dataset
]]> http://www.statinmed.com/newsletters/april-2012-newsletter/feed/ 0 Dr. Onur Baser publishes Modeling Healthcare Costs http://www.statinmed.com/news/dr-onur-baser-publishes-modeling-healthcare-costs/ http://www.statinmed.com/news/dr-onur-baser-publishes-modeling-healthcare-costs/#comments Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:49:07 +0000 SIMR http://www.statinmed.com/?p=1336 Dr. Onur Baser, President & CEO of STATinMED Research, published a book entitled Modeling Healthcare Costs, geared toward researchers from a variety of disciplines who work in the outcomes research industry.

Outcomes research is a unique field in the sense that it brings people who work in different disciplines under the umbrella of the same project.  In order to complete a protocol, final report or manuscript, one needs a statistician to execute the analysis, a health economist or epidemiologist to design the models, a clinician to choose the proper clinical variables and how to interpret them, a pharmacist to provide detailed medication information, a programmer to code, and a medical writer to prepare the report and manuscripts. These researchers with advanced degrees from a wide variety of disciplines must communicate with each other throughout the study.

Dr. Baser’s book is written for researchers without a strong statistical background, and includes examples from actual projects. For programmers, codes are provided that may be helpful in applying models case by case. For economists and statisticians, advanced sections with mathematical equations are included.

Please contact STATinMED Research at +1-734-222-5426 for more information.

]]> http://www.statinmed.com/news/dr-onur-baser-publishes-modeling-healthcare-costs/feed/ 0 March 2012 Newsletter http://www.statinmed.com/newsletters/march-2012-newsletter/ http://www.statinmed.com/newsletters/march-2012-newsletter/#comments Fri, 30 Mar 2012 19:43:21 +0000 SIMR http://www.statinmed.com/?p=1304  

STATinMED Research:
Upcoming Conferences and Presentations

 

Attending and presenting at the following conferences

 
International Society for Pharmacoeconomic and Outcomes Research (ISPOR)
17th Annual International Meeting
22 presentations
June 2-6, 2012; Washington, DC, USA

72nd Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association (ADA)
7 presentations
June 8-12, 2012; Philadelphia, PA, USA

48th Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD)
4 submissions
October 1-5, 2012; Berlin, Germany

International Society for Pharmacoeconomic and Outcomes Research (ISPOR)
5th Asia-Pacific Conference
4 submissions
September 2-4, 2012; Taipei, Taiwan

24th Annual Meeting & Expo of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP)
2 presentations
April 18-20, 2012; San Francisco, CA, USA

2nd China Outcomes Research and Evidence Based Medicine (CORE) Summit
1 presentation
March 29-31, 2012; Shanghai, China

International Society for Pharmacoeconomic and Outcomes Research (ISPOR)
15th Annual European Congress
November 3-7, 2012; Berlin, Germany

Have you seen STATinMED Research’s interactive data visualization tool, ADataViz?

Patients can switch drugs numerous times during the course of treatment. The patterns in which these switches occur can be difficult to illustrate by tables or tree diagrams. ADataViZ™, an analytic-based data visualization tool created by STATinMED Research, makes it easier to see trends in drug treatment through an interactive visualization of pharmacy claims data.  You can test an interactive example of ADataViZ™ at www.statinmed.com/visualization2.html.

From an initial prescription, drug A, the paths patients take during treatment are presented graphically with lines representing the proportion and direction of drug switches. In addition, clicking on specific medications provides additional information about the number of patients that switched, and the linkages between specific drugs. Other information, such as median time to drug switch or health care costs of a patient group, can also be layered on the paths.

STATinMED Research has experience with the following datasets:

  • IN-HOUSE ACCESS: 100% national Medicare data, including Part D drug information (Inpatient, Outpatient, Provider, Denominator Files)
  • IN-HOUSE ACCESS: national Veterans Affairs (VA) data for 2006 through 2011 (Inpatient, outpatient, laboratory, pharmacy care, radiology, vital signs, enrollment, vital status)
  • MarketScan Data (Commercial, Medicare, Medicaid, Health and Productivity Management)
  • MarketScan Hospital Drug Data Set (Solucient data set)
  • United Health DataIMS LifeLink Health Plan Claims Dataset (formerly PharMetrics)
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
  • Integrated Health Care Information Services (IHCIS) Impact Database
  • Life Science Research Database (formerly Lab Rx)
  • Premier Perspective Database
  • Electronic Medical Records (EMR)
  • Health Core Integrated Research Database
  • SEER-Medicare Database
  • Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey
  • Medical Expenditure Panel Survey
  • Long Term Care Minimum Data Set
  • National Alzheimer’s Coordination Center Dataset

 

]]> http://www.statinmed.com/newsletters/march-2012-newsletter/feed/ 0 ADA accepts 7 STATinMED Research abstracts http://www.statinmed.com/news/ada-accepts-7-statinmed-research-abstracts/ http://www.statinmed.com/news/ada-accepts-7-statinmed-research-abstracts/#comments Mon, 05 Mar 2012 21:40:40 +0000 SIMR http://www.statinmed.com/?p=1238

The American Diabetes Association announced it accepted seven abstracts co-authored by STATinMED Research for presentation at the 72nd Scientific Sessions, to be held on June 8-12, 2012 in Philadelphia, PA.

]]> http://www.statinmed.com/news/ada-accepts-7-statinmed-research-abstracts/feed/ 0 STATinMED Research at CORE Summit in Shanghai http://www.statinmed.com/news/statinmed-research-attending-core-summit-in-shanghai/ http://www.statinmed.com/news/statinmed-research-attending-core-summit-in-shanghai/#comments Fri, 02 Mar 2012 20:23:05 +0000 SIMR http://www.statinmed.com/?p=1211 STATinMED Research will both present and exhibit at the 2nd China Outcomes Research and Evidence-Based Medicine (CORE) Summit from March 29-31, 2012 at the Shanghai International Convention Center in China.

Dr. Li Wang, Director of Analytic Research at STATinMED Research will be presenting “Claims-Based Severity Index for Rheumatoid Arthritis from Health Care Claims Data” on March 31, 2012 during plenary session V (16:00–18:00).

]]> http://www.statinmed.com/news/statinmed-research-attending-core-summit-in-shanghai/feed/ 0 STATinMED Research article accepted for publication http://www.statinmed.com/news/statinmed-research-manuscript-accepted/ http://www.statinmed.com/news/statinmed-research-manuscript-accepted/#comments Tue, 28 Feb 2012 16:13:41 +0000 SIMR http://www.statinmed.com/?p=1152 The Arthritis Care and Research journal accepted an article co-authored by STATinMED Research President, Dr. Onur Baser, for publication.  The article focuses on changes in lipid profiles associated with rheumatoid arthritis.

]]> http://www.statinmed.com/news/statinmed-research-manuscript-accepted/feed/ 0 February 2012 Newsletter http://www.statinmed.com/newsletters/february-2012-newsletter/ http://www.statinmed.com/newsletters/february-2012-newsletter/#comments Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:45:54 +0000 SIMR http://www.statinmed.com/?p=1114  

Geographic variation trends in critical limb ischemia
prevalence in the United States.

 

Targeted prevention and treatment could gain better control

 
Critical limb ischemia (CLI) is a severe obstruction of the arteries that seriously decreases blood flow to the extremities. The hallmark of peripheral arterial occlusive disease is an inadequate blood flow to supply vital oxygen demanded by the limb. CLI occurs after a chronic lack of blood supply results in a cascade of pathophysiologic events that ultimately leads to severe pain in the feet or toes, even while resting.Complications of poor circulation can include sores and wounds that will not heal in the legs and feet. If left untreated, CLI will lead to amputation of the affected limb. Although CLI continues to be a significantly morbid disease process for the aging population, the epidemiology of CLI remains sparse in the U.S. population.

A recent presentation at the ISPOR Annual European Congress by STATinMED Research revealed that the spatial distribution of CLI prevalence is uneven and strongly suggests a geographic variation of CLI risk areas.

STATinMED Research‘s study sample was based on national medical claims data from 2006 through 2008. Patients with CLI were identified using the International Classification of Diseases 9th Revision Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) diagnosis codes (440.22, 440.23, 440.24) recorded in inpatient and outpatient claims files for Medicare beneficiaries age 65 years and older. The direct standardization method was used to assess year, age, gender, race and diabetes-adjusted prevalence of CLI.

 The change in prevalence of CLI over the 3 years was assessed and the variation in the prevalence of CLI was tested by state. Sensitivity analysis was explored to test whether prevalence and incidence of CLI vary among the use of several coding methods, namely between ICD-9 codes only and ICD-9 codes together with Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes.Geographic variation in the prevalence of CLI was obtained for patients over the age of 65 when adjusted by age, gender, race and diabetes status. Although approximately constant prevalence of CLI was reported in Utah (less than 0.15%) and Maryland (greater than 0.30%), a progressively increasing prevalence of CLI was observed in Montana (2006: 0.149%; 2007: 0.163.%; 2008: 0.277%) and Delaware (2006: 0.245%; 2007:0.247%; 2008: 0.330%) while progressively decreasing prevalence of CLI was observed in Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington. The total trend over 3 years followed the pattern of higher rates in eastern states and lower rates in western states.

The spatial distribution of CLI prevalence is uneven and strongly suggests a geographic variation of CLI risk areas. Targeted prevention and treatment could help gain better control of CLI in the United States.

Prevalence of CLI in the United States in 2006 and 2008

Baser O, Wang L. Geographic variation trends in critical limb ischemia prevalence in the United States. International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) 14th Annual European Congress. Madrid, Spain: November 5-8, 2011.

STATinMED Research has experience with the following datasets:

  • 100% MEDICARE (Inpatient, Outpatient, Provider, Denominator Files)
  • MarketScan Data (Commercial, Medicare, Medicaid, Health and Productivity Management)
  • MarketScan Hospital Drug Data Set (Solucient data set)
  • Veterans Affairs (VA) Data Set
  • United Health Data
  • PharMetrics
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
  • The Impact Data Set (IHCIS)
  • Lab Rx
  • Premier
  • Electronic Medical Records
  • Health Core Integrated Research Database
  • SEER-Medicare Database
  • Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey
  • Medical Expenditure Panel Survey
  • The Long Term Care Minimum Data Set

 

]]> http://www.statinmed.com/newsletters/february-2012-newsletter/feed/ 0 STATinMED Research publishes in Am J Man Care http://www.statinmed.com/news/statinmed-research-publishes-in-am-j-man-care/ http://www.statinmed.com/news/statinmed-research-publishes-in-am-j-man-care/#comments Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:06:06 +0000 SIMR http://www.statinmed.com/?p=1110 STATinMED Research’s article on the effect of thromboembolism prophylaxis in medical inpatients on outcomes and costs was accepted for publication as a web exclusive by the American Journal of Managed Care, and will be published in print in the June 2012 issue.

]]> http://www.statinmed.com/news/statinmed-research-publishes-in-am-j-man-care/feed/ 0 CEO distance learning professor for ISPOR http://www.statinmed.com/news/ceo-distance-learning-professor-ispor/ http://www.statinmed.com/news/ceo-distance-learning-professor-ispor/#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:33:57 +0000 SIMR http://www.statinmed.com/?p=1062 Dr. Onur Baser, CEO of STATinMED Research, was selected as a distance learning professor by the International Society of Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research (ISPOR). He will be teaching a course on estimation of health care costs.

]]> http://www.statinmed.com/news/ceo-distance-learning-professor-ispor/feed/ 0 CEO on IES Statistics & Modeling Panel http://www.statinmed.com/news/statinmed-research-ceo-selected-to-ies-statistics-modeling-panel/ http://www.statinmed.com/news/statinmed-research-ceo-selected-to-ies-statistics-modeling-panel/#comments Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:27:42 +0000 SIMR http://www.statinmed.com/?p=596 Dr. Onur Baser, CEO of STATinMED Research, was selected for the Scientific Review Committee of the U.S. Institute of Education Sciences (IES), Statistics and Modeling Panel.

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