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Rachelle Louise Cutler,1 Andrea Torres-Robles,1 Elyssa Wiecek,1 Barry Drake,2 Naomi Van der Linden,3 Shalom I (Charlie) Benrimoj,4 Victoria Garcia-Cardenas11Graduate School of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; 2Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; 3AstraZeneca Netherlands, The Hauge, Netherlands; 4Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaBackground: Scarcity of prospective medication non-adherence cost measurements for the Australian population with no directly measured estimates makes determining the burden medication non-adherence places on the Australian health care system difficult. This study aims to indirectly estimate the national cost of medication non-adherence in Australia comparing the cost prior to and following a community pharmacy-led intervention.Methods: Retrospective observational study. A de-identified database of dispensing data from 20,335 patients (n=11,257 on rosuvastatin, n=6,797 on irbesartan and n=2,281 on desvenlafaxine) was analyzed and average adherence rate determined through calculation of PDC. Included patients received a pharmacist-led medication adherence intervention and had twelve months dispensing records; six months before and six months after the intervention. The national cost estimate of medication non-adherence in hypertension, dyslipidemia and depression pre- and post-intervention was determined through utilization of disease prevalence and comorbidity, non-adherence rates and per patient disease-specific adherence-related costs.Results: The total national cost of medication non-adherence across three prevalent conditions, hypertension, dyslipidemia and depression was $10.4 billion equating to $517 per adult. Following enrollment in the pharmacist-led intervention medication non-adherence costs per adult decreased $95 saving the Australian health care system and patients $1.9 billion annually.Conclusion: In the absence of a directly measured national cost of medication non-adherence, this estimate demonstrates that pharmacists are ideally placed to improve patient adherence and reduce financial burden placed on the health care system due to non-adherence. Funding of medication adherence programs should be considered by policy and decision makers to ease the current burden and improve patient health outcomes moving forward.Keywords: medication adherence, community pharmacy, big data, dispensing records, health economics

Aim: When glycaemic control for people with type 2 diabetes is not achieved with metformin and sulfonylurea alone, adding another oral anti‐diabetes drug, such as a sodium–glucose co‐transporter 2 (SGLT2) or dipeptidyl peptidase‐4 (DPP‐4) inhibitor, is an alternative to starting insulin. The aim of this study is to determine the cost‐effectiveness of dapagliflozin (an SGLT2 inhibitor) compared with DPP‐4 inhibitors when added to metformin and sulfonylurea in people with type 2 diabetes in the Netherlands. Methods: A cost–utility analysis is performed using the Cardiff diabetes model, a fixed‐time increment stochastic simulation model informed by 'United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study 68' risk equations. The base‐case analysis uses a 40‐year time horizon, a Dutch societal perspective and differential discounting (4% for costs, 1.5% for effects). Inputs are obtained from the literature and Dutch price lists. Univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analysis are performed. Results: Dapagliflozin is dominant compared with DPP‐4 inhibitors, resulting in a €990 cost saving and a 0.28 quality‐adjusted life year gain over 40 years. Cost savings are associated mainly with treatment costs and a reduced incidence of micro‐ and macrovascular complications, among others nephropathy, myocardial infarction and stroke. Results are robust to changes in input parameters. Conclusions: Dapagliflozin is a cost‐saving alternative to DPP‐4 inhibitors when added to metformin and sulfonylurea. The incidence of micro‐ and macrovascular complications is lower for people treated with dapagliflozin. Uncertainty around this outcome is low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Real-world resource use and cost data on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are scarce. This data is needed to inform health-economic modelling to assess the impact of new diagnostic and/or treatment technologies. This study provides detailed insight into real-world medical resource use and costs of stage I-IV NSCLC in the Netherlands. Materials and methods A random sample of patients newly diagnosed with NSCLC (2009–2011) was selected from four Dutch hospitals. Data was retrospectively collected from patient charts. This data included patient characteristics, tumour characteristics, treatment details, adverse events, survival and resource use. Resource use was multiplied by Dutch unit costs expressed in EUR 2012. Total mean costs were corrected for censoring using the Bang and Tsiatis weighted complete-case estimator. Furthermore, costs of adverse events, costs per phase of NSCLC management and costs of second opinions are presented. Results Data was collected on 1067 patients. Total mean costs for NSCLC diagnosis, treatment and follow-up are €28,468 during the study period and €33,143 when corrected for censoring. Adverse events were recorded in the patient charts for 369 patients (41%) and 82 patients (9%) experienced an adverse event of grade III or higher. For these patients, adverse event-related hospital admissions cost on average €2,091. Mean total costs are €1,725 for the diagnostic period, €17,296 for first treatment line, and €13,236 for each later treatment line. Costs of providing a second opinion are €2,580 per patient. Conclusions Total mean hospital costs per NSCLC patient are €33,143 for the total duration of the disease. Ignoring censoring in our data underestimates these costs by 14%. Main limitations of the study relate to the short follow-up time, staging difficulties and missing data. Its main strength is that it provides highly detailed, real-world data on the costs of NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]