Title |
Evaluating increased resource use in fibromyalgia using electronic health records
|
---|---|
Published in |
ClinicoEconomics and Outcomes Research: CEOR, November 2016
|
DOI | 10.2147/ceor.s112252 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Jay M Margolis, Elizabeth T Masters, Joseph C Cappelleri, David M Smith, Steven Faulkner |
Abstract |
The management of fibromyalgia (FM), a chronic musculoskeletal disease, remains challenging, and patients with FM are often characterized by high health care resource utilization. This study sought to explore potential drivers of all-cause health care resource utilization and other factors associated with high resource use, using a large electronic health records (EHR) database to explore data from patients diagnosed with FM. This was a retrospective analysis of de-identified EHR data from the Humedica database. Adults (≥18 years) with FM were identified based on ≥2 International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes for FM (729.1) ≥30 days apart between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2012 and were required to have evidence of ≥12 months continuous care pre- and post-index; first FM diagnosis was the index event; 12-month pre- and post-index reporting periods. Multivariable analysis evaluated relationships between variables and resource utilization. Patients were predominantly female (81.4%), Caucasian (87.7%), with a mean (standard deviation) age of 54.4 (14.8) years. The highest health care resource utilization was observed for the categories of "medication orders" and "physician office visits," with 12-month post-index means of 21.2 (21.5) drug orders/patient and 15.1 (18.1) office visits/patient; the latter accounted for 73.3% of all health care visits. Opioids were the most common prescription medication, 44.3% of all patients. The chance of high resource use was significantly increased (P<0.001) 26% among African-Americans vs Caucasians and for patients with specific comorbid conditions ranging from 6% (musculoskeletal pain or depression/bipolar disorder) to 21% (congestive heart failure). Factors significantly associated with increased medications ordered included being female (P<0.001) and specific comorbid conditions (P<0.05). Physician office visits and pharmacotherapy orders were key drivers of all-cause health care utilization, with demographic factors, opioid use, and specific comorbidities associated with resource intensity. Health systems and providers may find their EHRs to be a useful tool for identifying and managing resource-intensive FM patients. |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Unknown | 36 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Bachelor | 6 | 17% |
Researcher | 6 | 17% |
Student > Master | 5 | 14% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 4 | 11% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 2 | 6% |
Other | 3 | 8% |
Unknown | 10 | 28% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Medicine and Dentistry | 12 | 33% |
Psychology | 5 | 14% |
Nursing and Health Professions | 4 | 11% |
Computer Science | 1 | 3% |
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science | 1 | 3% |
Other | 2 | 6% |
Unknown | 11 | 31% |