PharmacoEconomics & Outcomes News 295 - 13 Jan 2001 Greater gains seen with longer stays in DM programmes Aggregate data obtained from the North Carolina, USbased disease management (DM) company Accordant Health Services at the end of last year suggests impressive clinical and financial gains for the company’s DM programmes for relatively rare disorders, reports Disease Management News. The success of the company’s DM programmes was best seen in the steady decline observed in emergency room visits and hospital admissions in both absolute and percentage-of-enrolment terms, the report continues. Based on 90-day ‘length of time in programme’ (LOTIP) periods indicative of duration of programme participation, the number of emergency room visits fell from 509 among 8016 enrollees after 1 LOTIP to 39 among 1177 enrollees after 8 LOTIPs. A reduction in the number of hospital admissions was also reported for the same period, from 1357 in 8016 enrollees to 138 in 1177 enrollees. The per-member per-month costs fell from about $US600 after 1 LOTIP to < $US200 after 8 LOTIPs. One of Accordant’s largest clients, managed-care organisation Humana Inc., reported similarly strong results. In addition to considerable reductions in exacerbations of disease and depression (by 48 and 42%, respectively) in Humana members with multiple sclerosis enrolled in Accordant’s DM programmes, emergency room visits declined from 330 among 2716 enrollees after 1 LOTIP to 39 among 626 enrollees after 8 LOTIPs. Likewise, there was a drop in the number of hospital admissions, from 993 in 2716 enrollees to 123 in 626 enrollees. Accordant aggregate outcomes data show gains. Disease Management News 6: 3-4, 800839833 10 Dec 2000

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PharmacoEconomics & Outcomes News 13 Jan 2001 No. 295

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