ACR Meeting Abstracts

ACR Meeting Abstracts

  • Meetings
    • ACR Convergence 2024
    • ACR Convergence 2023
    • 2023 ACR/ARP PRSYM
    • ACR Convergence 2022
    • ACR Convergence 2021
    • ACR Convergence 2020
    • 2020 ACR/ARP PRSYM
    • 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting
    • 2018-2009 Meetings
    • Download Abstracts
  • Keyword Index
  • Advanced Search
  • Your Favorites
    • Favorites
    • Login
    • View and print all favorites
    • Clear all your favorites
  • ACR Meetings

Abstract Number: 2248

The “Financial Toxicity” of Therapy in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Gary Craig1,2, Keith Knapp1,2, Karen Ferguson2 and Sergio Schwartzman3, 1Arthritis Northwest PLLC., Spokane, WA, 2Discus Analytics LLC., Spokane, WA, 3Rheumatology, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY

Meeting: 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting

Date of first publication: September 28, 2016

Keywords: Health care cost and population studies

  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
Session Information

Date: Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Title: Health Services Research - Poster III

Session Type: ACR Poster Session C

Session Time: 9:00AM-11:00AM

Background/Purpose: In the pre-biologic era, major costs faced by patients with RA included hospitalization and joint replacement. Biologic agent development has led to increasing outpatient costs. The effects of this from a patient’s perspective have not been thoroughly explored although modeling exists in the oncology literature1. The purpose is to present patients’ perspective of how medical costs impact their view of financial burden in rheumatologic care.

Methods: In this retrospective cross-sectional study, the US Rheumatology database JointMan® was utilized. Patients complete a financial impact form at every visit. Patients respond on a Likkert scale to the question, “How much of an impact does the cost of your medical care received from our office have on your life financially?” Response options: intolerable, severe, moderate, mild or none. Percentages of each response category were calculated for the time periods: 4/20/15–6/15/15, 10/20/2015–12/15/20, and 4/20/15–6/15/2016. Patients were also asked whether their financial situation would cause them to skip visits, postpone a visit, have difficulty paying for a visit or medication, cut dosage of medications, skip doses of medications, or fail to fill a medication.

Results: Of the 12554 responses, the mean patient age was 58, 73.11% female; 90.94% Caucasian. All patients had Medicare or private insurance; none were uninsured.

A two-sided T-Test comparing the “none” category for the April 2016 time point to all other categories combined revealed a statistically significant relationship t=21.87 (p<0.0001).

Conclusion: Surprisingly, there was an increasing trend in the “none” category indicating no perceived financial impact. Potential explanations include that this analysis was mostly from one large rheumatology practice where all patients surveyed were insured. In this population health insurers recognize the importance of biologics and were more likely to approve therapy. Competitive financial strategies are employed by pharmaceutical companies offering multiple or substantial co-pay assistance. ACR guidelines for treatment pathways are published including recommendations for biologic therapy which may aid insurance coverage.

1.       Khera, N. J. Clin. Onc, 2014. 32(29)3337


Disclosure: G. Craig, Discus Analytics LLC., 4,Celgene, 8,UCB, 8,Genentech and Biogen IDEC Inc., 8,Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation, 8,Bristol-Myers Squibb, 8,Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation, 5,Bristol-Myers Squibb, 5; K. Knapp, Discus Analytics, 1,Discus Analytics, 3; K. Ferguson, Genentech and Biogen IDEC Inc., 8,Discus Analytics LLC., 4; S. Schwartzman, Genentech and Biogen IDEC Inc., 8,Genentech and Biogen IDEC Inc., 5,Abbott Immunology Pharmaceuticals, 5,Abbott Immunology Pharmaceuticals, 8,Janssen Pharmaceutica Product, L.P., 8,Janssen Pharmaceutica Product, L.P., 5,Pfizer Inc, 5,Pfizer Inc, 8,UCB, 5,UCB, 8,Regeneron, 5,Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation, 8,Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation, 5.

To cite this abstract in AMA style:

Craig G, Knapp K, Ferguson K, Schwartzman S. The “Financial Toxicity” of Therapy in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis [abstract]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2016; 68 (suppl 10). https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/the-financial-toxicity-of-therapy-in-patients-with-rheumatoid-arthritis/. Accessed .
  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

« Back to 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting

ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/the-financial-toxicity-of-therapy-in-patients-with-rheumatoid-arthritis/

Advanced Search

Your Favorites

You can save and print a list of your favorite abstracts during your browser session by clicking the “Favorite” button at the bottom of any abstract. View your favorites »

All abstracts accepted to ACR Convergence are under media embargo once the ACR has notified presenters of their abstract’s acceptance. They may be presented at other meetings or published as manuscripts after this time but should not be discussed in non-scholarly venues or outlets. The following embargo policies are strictly enforced by the ACR.

Accepted abstracts are made available to the public online in advance of the meeting and are published in a special online supplement of our scientific journal, Arthritis & Rheumatology. Information contained in those abstracts may not be released until the abstracts appear online. In an exception to the media embargo, academic institutions, private organizations, and companies with products whose value may be influenced by information contained in an abstract may issue a press release to coincide with the availability of an ACR abstract on the ACR website. However, the ACR continues to require that information that goes beyond that contained in the abstract (e.g., discussion of the abstract done as part of editorial news coverage) is under media embargo until 10:00 AM ET on November 14, 2024. Journalists with access to embargoed information cannot release articles or editorial news coverage before this time. Editorial news coverage is considered original articles/videos developed by employed journalists to report facts, commentary, and subject matter expert quotes in a narrative form using a variety of sources (e.g., research, announcements, press releases, events, etc.).

Violation of this policy may result in the abstract being withdrawn from the meeting and other measures deemed appropriate. Authors are responsible for notifying colleagues, institutions, communications firms, and all other stakeholders related to the development or promotion of the abstract about this policy. If you have questions about the ACR abstract embargo policy, please contact ACR abstracts staff at [email protected].

Wiley

  • Online Journal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Permissions Policies
  • Cookie Preferences

© Copyright 2025 American College of Rheumatology