Cost evaluation of an innovative outreach clinic across social insurance codes in rural Northern Germany - A routine data analysis.

A community outreach clinic was established in 2013 in a rural part of Germany to counsel and better integrate patients with mental health disorders or clients with psychosocial problems into the healthcare and complementary social assistance system. In a pilot study, we aimed to evaluate the costs of the integration assistance system after the outreach clinic was opened, the number of visits and the trend in the costs of the social assistance system of the federal state. Anonymised secondary cost data were used to evaluate the costs associated with the integration assistance receivers before (2010-2012) and after the establishment of the outreach clinic (2013-2015).

[Descriptive Analysis of Health Economics of Intensive Home Care of Ventilated Patients].

Introduction: Long-term ventilated patients in Germany receive intensive care mainly in the patients' home or in assisted-living facilities. There is a lack of knowledge about the nature and extent of resource use and costs associated with care of this small, heterogeneous but overall growing patient group.

Methods: A sub-study in the context of a research project SHAPE analyzed costs of 29 patients descriptively from a social perspective.

A retrospective cost-analysis of additional homeopathic treatment in Germany: Long-term economic outcomes.

Objectives: This study aimed to provide a long-term cost comparison of patients using additional homeopathic treatment (homeopathy group) with patients using usual care (control group) over an observation period of 33 months.

Methods: Health claims data from a large statutory health insurance company were analysed from both the societal perspective (primary outcome) and from the statutory health insurance perspective (secondary outcome). To compare costs between patient groups, homeopathy and control patients were matched in a 1:1 ratio using propensity scores.

Frequency and clinical relevance of potential cytochrome P450 drug interactions in a psychiatric patient population - an analysis based on German insurance claims data.

Background: Numerous drugs used in the treatment of psychiatric disorders are substrates of cytochrome P450 enzymes and are potential candidates for drug-drug interactions (DDIs).

Methods: Claims data of a German statutory health insurance company from severely mentally ill patients who registered in an integrated care contract from August 2004 to December 2009 were analysed. We measured time periods of concomitant prescription of drugs that have been reported to interact via cytochrome P450, with a focus on drugs acting as strong inhibitors.

Can Additional Homeopathic Treatment Save Costs? A Retrospective Cost-Analysis Based on 44500 Insured Persons.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the health care costs for patients using additional homeopathic treatment (homeopathy group) with the costs for those receiving usual care (control group).

Methods: Cost data provided by a large German statutory health insurance company were retrospectively analysed from the societal perspective (primary outcome) and from the statutory health insurance perspective. Patients in both groups were matched using a propensity score matching procedure based on socio-demographic variables as well as costs, number of hospital stays and sick leave days in the previous 12 months.

Influence of subcutaneous specific immunotherapy on drug costs in children suffering from allergic asthma.

Background: Subcutaneous specific immunotherapy (SCIT) is an effective treatment attenuating the progression of allergic asthma. To date, there is a lack of studies investigating the economic consequences of SCIT on health care expenditures.

Methods: A health-economic piggy-back analysis of SCIT was conducted based on a RCT that enrolled 65 children and adolescents with allergic asthma.

Posaconazole prophylaxis--impact on incidence of invasive fungal disease and antifungal treatment in haematological patients.

Since two large-scale, randomised studies on posaconazole prophylaxis have demonstrated a clear benefit for patients at high risk for contracting invasive fungal disease (IFD), posaconazole prophylaxis has been adopted as standard of care for this patient collective. Several years on from implementation at our institution, we wanted to evaluate its impact on the incidence and use of empirical antifungal therapy in a real-life setting. We analysed retrospectively incidence and severity of IFD in high-risk patients with prophylaxis, using a historical cohort as comparator.

Opinions on Kampo and reasons for using it--results from a cross-sectional survey in three Japanese clinics.

Background: Traditional Japanese Medicine (Kampo) is often used in Japan, but very little data on its users are available. We investigated who uses Kampo, the reasons and opinions for its use.

Methods: Questionnaire survey in three Japanese outpatient clinics offering Kampo in different settings: Kampo only, Kampo and traditional Chinese medicine, Kampo and Western medicine.

The loudness dependence of auditory evoked potentials and effects of psychopathology and psychopharmacotherapy in psychiatric inpatients.

Objective: Many studies have provided evidence for the loudness dependence of auditory evoked potentials (LDAEP) as a marker for central serotonergic activity but remained inconclusive for its suitability in clinical use.

Methods: A cross-sectional sample of 162 psychiatric inpatients (major depression N = 86, bipolar disorder N = 12, schizophrenia N = 50, and schizoaffective disorder N = 14) and 40 healthy subjects was retrospectively examined for LDAEP and effects of psychopathology and psychopharmacology.

Results: The LDAEP was weaker in patients with affective disorders than in healthy subjects but did not differentiate between the total patient sample and healthy controls.