Monday, July 10, 2023 | The Latest Research, Commentary, And News From Health Affairs
ICYMI, we are excited to announce that our Impact Factor jumped to 9.7 in 2022. And, we remained the undisputed #1 rank forHealth Policy and Services category.
Weight-Based Dosing Could Save Millions Immune checkpoint inhibitors are a class of drugs used in about forty unique cancer indications. These drugs, accounting for more than $6 billion in Medicare Part B spending in 2020, contribute to the economic burden of cancer care.
Immune checkpoint inhibitors are typically administered at "one-size-fits-all" flat doses, "despite an absence of data supporting the superiority of flat dosing over weight-based dosing."
In fact, flat dosing could expose patients to risks associated with receiving higher doses of a drug. Higher doses are also associated with increased spending.
Alex Bryant and his team of coauthors recently published an article in Health Affairs examining the impact of the implementation of weight-based dosing "along with common stewardship efforts at the pharmacy level."
Using a patient-level simulation of weight-based dosing on Veterans Health Administration (VHA) data, they conclude that weight-based dosing, dose rounding, and pharmacy-level vial sharing would generate $74 million in annual savings for the VHA.
Finally, Sabrina Corlette discusses how a proposed rule from the Departments of Health & Human Services, Labor, and Treasury would effectively reverse a 2018 rule designed to expand the marketing and sale of short-term, limited duration health insurance (STLDI) to consumers.
Health Affairs is the leading peer-reviewedjournalat the intersection of health, health care, and policy. Published monthly by Project HOPE, the journal is available in print and online. Late-breaking
content is also found through healthaffairs.org, Health Affairs Today, and Health Affairs Sunday Update.
Project HOPE is a global health and humanitarian relief organization that places power in the hands of local health care workers to save lives across the globe. Project HOPE has published Health Affairs since 1981.
