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New Analysis Indicates That a Majority of Overt Hepatic Encephalopathy (OHE) Patients May Face Delays in Treatment Initiation and Gaps During Treatment for Access to Treatment Indicated to Reduce Risk for OHE Recurrence
Hurdles Led to Almost All Patients Having At Least One Day Delay to Receive Treatment with Xifaxa...
About this update from Bausch Health Companies Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"New Analysis Indicates That a Majority of Overt Hepatic Encephalopathy (OHE) Patients May Face Delays in Treatment Initiation and Gaps During Treatment for Access to Treatment Indicated to Reduce Risk for OHE Recurrence Hurdles Led to Almost All Patients Having At Least One Day Delay to Receive Treatment with Xifaxan®LAVAL, QC / ACCESSWIRE / October 17, 2023 / Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE:BHC)(TSX:BHC) and its gastroenterology business, Salix Pharmaceuticals, today announced findings from a retrospective database analysis of adjudicated claims data that examined the impact of access barriers for commercially-insured adults prescribed Xifaxan® (rifaximin) for reduction in risk of overt hepatic encephalopathy (OHE) recurrence in adults. Results suggest potentially critical treatment gaps due to access barriers, which may result in increased rates of OHE-related hospitalizations. Findings from the analysis, \"Assessment of Access Barriers to Rifaximin Among Patients with Overt Hepatic Encephalopathy Using Adjudicated Claims Data,\" were presented today at the AMCP Nexus 2023 meeting.\"This study was designed to identify barriers to Xifaxan access among patients with OHE. The study results highlight that rejection of Xifaxan claims led to delay in treatment initiation as well as gaps in active treatment. Such access barriers to Xifaxan may result in increased rates of OHE related hospitalizations,\" said Arun Jesudian, MD, Director of Inpatient Liver Services at NYPH/Weill Cornell in New York who led the analysis.Treatment gaps were assessed across a 12-month period that began at the first observed attempt to access rifaximin, which is defined as a paid, reversed or rejected prescription claim.Across the study period, patients had 8.8 average attempts to access rifaximin with an average 6.4 claims paid, 1.5 rejected and 0.9 reversedNearly all patients (97.0%) experienced a treatment gap of at least one day, with an average of 2.9 gaps per patient leading to a total duration of 157.4 days without exposure to rifaximin (medication possession ratio: 56.9%)Treatment-initiated delays in receiving rifaximin were experienced by 34.8% of patients with more than three-quarters (77.7%) of initiation delays experienced due to rejected claims with the most common rejection reported as Prior Authorization (PA) Required (61.8%)Fol...