Clinical utility of thiopurine metabolite monitoring in inflammatory bowel disease and its impact on healthcare utilization in Singapore.

Background And Aim: Thiopurines are recommended for maintenance of steroid-free remission (SFR) in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Thiopurine metabolite monitoring (MM) is increasingly used in the West but remains novel in Singapore, with limited information on its therapeutic and economic benefits. Hence, this study aims to investigate MM's clinical utility and its impact on healthcare resource utilization in Singaporean IBD patients.

A quality improvement project reduces time spent at an inflammatory bowel disease infusion center with accelerated infliximab infusion protocol.

Background And Aim: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) requiring infliximab frequently spend hours to attend treatment. Through quality improvement (QI) methodology, we aimed to shorten the time spent in the biologics infusion center using the accelerated infusion protocol and describe patient outcomes, safety, and associated cost savings.

Methods: From September 2018 through December 2019, eligible IBD patients receiving infliximab were recruited.

Economic evaluation of direct-acting antivirals for the treatment of genotype 3 hepatitis C infection in Singapore.

Background And Aim: The prohibitively high cost of direct-acting antivirals (DAA) for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection remains a barrier to treatment access in Singapore. We aimed to evaluate whether DAA as first-line therapy would be cost-effective for genotype 3 (GT3) HCV patients compared with pegylated interferon and ribavirin (PR).

Methods: A decision tree analysis was used to compare the costs and outcomes of DAA and PR as first-line therapy.