scholarly journals Economic analysis of the prevalence and clinical and economic burden of medication error in England

2020 ◽  
pp. bmjqs-2019-010206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Ann Elliott ◽  
Elizabeth Camacho ◽  
Dina Jankovic ◽  
Mark J Sculpher ◽  
Rita Faria

ObjectivesTo provide national estimates of the number and clinical and economic burden of medication errors in the National Health Service (NHS) in England.MethodsWe used UK-based prevalence of medication errors (in prescribing, dispensing, administration and monitoring) in primary care, secondary care and care home settings, and associated healthcare resource use, to estimate annual number and burden of errors to the NHS. Burden (healthcare resource use and deaths) was estimated from harm associated with avoidable adverse drug events (ADEs).ResultsWe estimated that 237 million medication errors occur at some point in the medication process in England annually, 38.4% occurring in primary care; 72% have little/no potential for harm and 66 million are potentially clinically significant. Prescribing in primary care accounts for 34% of all potentially clinically significant errors. Definitely avoidable ADEs are estimated to cost the NHS £98 462 582 per year, consuming 181 626 bed-days, and causing/contributing to 1708 deaths. This comprises primary care ADEs leading to hospital admission (£83.7 million; causing 627 deaths), and secondary care ADEs leading to longer hospital stay (£14.8 million; causing or contributing to 1081 deaths).ConclusionsUbiquitous medicines use in health care leads unsurprisingly to high numbers of medication errors, although most are not clinically important. There is significant uncertainty around estimates due to the assumption that avoidable ADEs correspond to medication errors, data quality, and lack of data around longer-term impacts of errors. Data linkage between errors and patient outcomes is essential to progress understanding in this area.

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. e027814 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Wallström ◽  
Inger Ekman ◽  
Elmir Omerovic ◽  
Kerstin Ulin ◽  
Hanna Gyllensten

ObjectiveLittle is known about the economic impact of takotsubo syndrome (TS) for patients and the health system after initial discharge from hospital. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe the healthcare resource use and calculate direct healthcare costs for TS, from hospitalisation to 6 months after discharge, and explore the distribution of costs between TS and other diagnoses among patients with TS.Method, participants and settingCohort study investigating direct healthcare costs from hospitalisation, open specialised outpatient and primary care. Healthcare resource use during 6 months after diagnosis with TS was collected for 58 consecutive patients from the Regional Patient Register. Incidence-based direct healthcare costs, in 2015 values, were calculated using diagnosis-related group weights and unit costs from national statistics on healthcare costs.ResultsThe mean length of hospital stay was 10.2 days, index 6.4 and re-admissions 3.8 days. The mean number of follow-up encounters per patient was 15.6, of which two-thirds was specialised outpatient and one-third was primary care. This resulted in an average cost of €10 360. Of this, costs of €8026 (77.5%) occurred during encounters for which at least one of the registered conditions was cardiovascular. Costs differed little according to background characteristics.ConclusionThis study shows that patients utilise hospital, specialised outpatient and primary care after discharge for TS. Most direct healthcare costs relate to cardiac diagnoses. Patients with TS would probably benefit from a supportive follow-up programme after discharge from hospital.


Author(s):  
Joaquin Gustavo Luna Rios ◽  
Monica Rojas ◽  
Miguel Cashat ◽  
Glorian Persaud Yen ◽  
Alexandra Altland ◽  
...  

Introduction: Genital warts are benign lesions caused by sexual transmission of human papillomavirus types 6 and 11, with significant impact on healthcare resource use and patients’ quality of life. Objective: To describe the epidemiology of genital warts in adults visiting a physician office for any reason, physician practice patterns, and healthcare resource use and costs in Colombia. Methods: Participants were a convenience sample of 53 physicians in 5 specialties: primary care (15), gynecology (24), urology (12), proctology (1), and dermatology (1). Physicians completed a survey and daily log of all patients 18-60 years old seen over 10 days in their practices in 2016-2017. The physician survey recorded genital warts consultation and management patterns. The daily log recorded patient demographic information and genital warts diagnosis. Results: Among 6,393 patients logged by physicians, the genital warts prevalence was 2.03% (95%CI 1.69–2.38) and incidence 1.30% (95%CI 1.02–1.58). Primary care physicians referred most of their genital warts cases for treatment (female: mean 63.3%, SD=44.8; male: mean 58.3%, SD=43.8). Treatment of non-resistant episodes (<6-month duration) lasted an average of 37.4 days (SD=29.4) and required an average of 4.0 (SD=1.9) office visits for females and 3.0 (SD=1.7) for males. The overall mean cost of an episode of care was USD558.13 (SD=507.30). Conclusion: Genital warts cases reported by most participant physicians were mainly direct-consult, but patients were typically treated by specialists. Much of the genital warts health care utilization and costs reported could be prevented by immunization with the quadrivalent or nonavalent HPV vaccine.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S702-S703
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Thompson ◽  
Alen Marijam ◽  
Fanny S Mitrani-Gold ◽  
Jonathon Wright ◽  
Ashish V Joshi

Abstract Background Uncomplicated urinary tract infections (uUTI) account for a large proportion of primary care antibiotic (AB) prescriptions. This study assessed uUTI-related healthcare resource use (HRU) and costs in US females with a self-reported uUTI. Methods We surveyed US females aged ≥ 18 years who participated in web-based surveys (fielded August 28–September 28, 2020 by Dynata, EMI, Lucid/Federated, and Kantar Profiles). Participants had a self-reported uUTI ≤ 60 days prior, and took ≥ 1 oral AB for their uUTI. Those reporting signs of complicated UTI were excluded. HRU was measured via self-reported primary care provider (PCP), specialist, urgent care, emergency room (ER) visits, and hospitalizations. Direct costs were calculated as sum of self-reported and HRU monetized with Medical Expenditure Panel Survey estimates. Indirect costs were calculated via Work Productivity and Impairment metrics monetized with Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates. Participants were stratified by number of oral ABs prescribed (1/2/3+) and therapy appropriateness (1 AB [1st line/2nd line]/multiple [any line] AB) for most recent uUTI. Multivariable regression modeling was used to compare strata; 1:1 propensity score matching assessed uUTI burden vs matched population (derived from the 2020 National Health and Wellness Survey [NHWS]). Results In total, 375 participants were eligible for this analysis. PCP visits (68.8%) were the most common HRU. Across participants, there were an average of 1.46 PCP, 0.31 obstetrician/gynecologist, 0.41 urgent care and 0.08 ER visits, and 0.01 hospitalizations for most recent uUTI (Table 1). Total mean uUTI-related direct and indirect costs were &1289 and &515, respectively (Table 1). Adjusted mean total direct costs were significantly higher (Table 2) for participants in the ‘2 AB’ cohort vs the ‘1 AB’ cohort (&2090 vs &776, p &lt; 0.0001), and for the ‘multiple AB’ vs ‘1 AB, 1st line’ cohorts (&1642 vs &875, p=0.002). Participants in the uUTI cohort reported worse absenteeism (+15.3%), presenteeism (+46.5%), overall work impairment (+52.4%), and impact on daily activities (+50.7%) vs NHWS cohort (p &lt; 0.0001, Table 3). Table 1. Overall mean uUTI-related healthcare resource use, direct, and indirect cost data Table 2. Estimated uUTI-related direct costs stratified by (A) number of AB and (B) appropriateness of AB therapy used to treat last uUTI Table 3. Mean Work Productivity and Activity Impairment data for uUTI and NHWS cohorts Conclusion Inadequate treatment response, evident by multiple AB use, was associated with an increase in uUTI-related costs, including productivity loss. Disclosures Jeffrey Thompson, PhD, Kantar Health (Employee, Employee of Kantar Health, which received funding from GlaxoSmithKline plc. to conduct this study) Alen Marijam, MSc, GlaxoSmithKline plc. (Employee, Shareholder) Fanny S. Mitrani-Gold, MPH, GlaxoSmithKline plc. (Employee, Shareholder) Jonathon Wright, BSc, Kantar Health (Employee, Employee of Kantar Health, which received funding from GlaxoSmithKline plc. to conduct this study) Ashish V. Joshi, PhD, GlaxoSmithKline plc. (Employee, Shareholder)


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document