Impact of cost-sharing on treatment augmentation in patients with depression.

Objectives: Many patients with depression do not respond to first-line antidepressant therapy and may require augmentation with another concurrent treatment such as a second antidepressant, a stimulant, a mood stabilizer, or a second-generation antipsychotic (SGA). The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between patient cost-sharing and the use of augmentation among a sample of commercially insured patients.

Study Design: Retrospective observational study of adult patients diagnosed with depression and receiving antidepressant therapy (n = 48,807).

The economic value of specialized lower-extremity medical care by podiatric physicians in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers.

Background: We sought to examine the economic value of specialized lower-extremity medical care by podiatric physicians in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers by evaluating cost outcomes for patients with diabetic foot ulcer who did and did not receive care from a podiatric physician in the year before the onset of a foot ulcer.

Methods: We analyzed the economic value among commercially insured patients and Medicare-eligible patients with employer-sponsored supplemental medical benefits using the MarketScan Databases. The analysis consisted of two parts.

Cost burden of treatment resistance in patients with depression.

Objective: To develop a claims-based scale for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and estimate the associated direct cost burden.

Study Design: Retrospective, observational study of patients receiving antidepressant therapy between January 2000 and June 2007 (N = 78,477).

Methods: The Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) clinical staging method for treatment resistance (assigning points for adequate trials of antidepressant medication, upward dose titration, extended duration, augmentation, and electroconvulsive therapy) was applied to claims data from the MarketScan Research Databases over a 24-month time period.

Clinical and economic impact of infusion reactions in patients with colorectal cancer treated with cetuximab.

Background: Systemic agents in cancer treatment were often associated with possible infusion reactions (IRs). This study estimated the incidence of IRs requiring medical intervention and assessed the clinical and economic impacts of IRs in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) treated with cetuximab.

Patients And Methods: Details on patients with CRC receiving cetuximab in 2004-2006 were extracted from a large USA administrative claims database.