The effect of identifying macroprolactinemia on health-care utilization and costs in patients with elevated serum prolactin levels.

Objectives: The routine screening for macroprolactin of all hyperprolactinemic patients may avoid unnecessary imaging procedures and medication prescription. The study described the frequency and types of tests requested after a diagnosis of high serum prolactin concentration, and assessed whether the diagnosis of macroprolactinemia resulted in lower downstream utilization and costs compared with hyperprolactinemic patients.

Methods: A cost analysis was conducted using a decision tree to model the health-care utilization of the two groups.