Device Could Reduce Direct Medical Costs For Patients with COPD

Recent research in the International Journal of COPD found that a handheld mechanical oscillating positive expiratory pressure device could significantly improve post-exacerbation care among patients with COPD.

“COPD places a huge clinical and economic burden on the US health care system, with acute exacerbations representing a key driver of direct medical costs,” Shoghag Khoudigian-Sinani, MSc, BSc, of the faculty of health sciences’ department of health research, methods, evidence and impact at McMaster University in Canada, and colleagues wrote. “Current treatments, although effective in reducing symptoms and limiting exacerbations, do not adequately target the underlying disease processes that drive exacerbation development. The Aerobika oscillating positive expiratory pressure (OPEP) device has been shown in a real-world effectiveness study to lower the frequency of moderate-to-severe exacerbations during a 30-day post-exacerbation period.”

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In order to determine the cost impact of the Aerobika, the researchers developed a model using data from published literature and national fee schedules. They assembled a cohort using data from patients who experienced an exacerbation in the previous month and from a a post-exacerbation care population.

Results from the simulation model showed that when assuming that the effect of the device continued throughout a 30-day period, the device reduced COPD related costs by $553 per patient—while also improving outcomes—compared to treatment with no device.

When Dr Khoudigian-Sinani and colleagues extended the effect of the device beyond the 3-day timeframe, the Aerobika remained the more cost-effective treatment strategy, preventing 21 exacerbations per 100 patients per year. This resulted in a $1,952 per patient annual cost reduction.

“This study provides evidence for the cost-effectiveness of the Aerobika device in the management of COPD, in terms of savings in direct medical costs associated with reduction in COPD exacerbations,” the researchers concluded. “The insights generated from this study should be useful in informing decisions for health care providers who are seeking to develop evidence-based strategies to help reduce the rate of exacerbations (and associated costs) among COPD patients, especially in the important 30-day post-exacerbation period.”

—David Costill

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