Physician Utilization Patterns for VEGF-Inhibitor Drugs in the 2012 United States Medicare Population: Bevacizumab, Ranibizumab, and Aflibercept.
Journal Article (Multicenter Study;Journal Article)
Background and objective
To evaluate variation in physician use of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors.Patients and methods
Population-based analysis of comprehensive, publicly available 2012 Medicare claims, aggregated by physician specialty and service type - including intravitreal injections of bevacizumab (Avastin; Genentech, South San Francisco, CA), ranibizumab (Lucentis; Genetech, South San Francisco, CA), and aflibercept (Eylea; Regeneron, Tarrytown, NY). Physicians were characterized by total patients treated, proportion treated with each drug, total intravitreal injection payments, and proportion of total payments for each drug.Results
The authors identified 2,869 ophthalmologists. On average, each treated 203 patients with VEGF-inhibitors, 75.9% of which were treated with bevacizumab. Using all three agents was the most common practice (1,121 physicians), closely followed by using bevacizumab only (1,061 physicians). Ranibizumab accounted for most payments, but bevacizumab was the largest payment source for a sizeable proportion of physicians who used only/mostly bevacizumab.Conclusion
Most ophthalmologists use multiple VEGF inhibitors, but vary in their relative use. A subset of ophthalmologists predominantly use ranibizumab, but ophthalmologists overall use more bevacizumab despite financial incentives favoring ranibizumab. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2016;47:555-562.].Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Baisiwala, S; Bundorf, MK; Pershing, S
Published Date
- June 2016
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 47 / 6
Start / End Page
- 555 - 562
PubMed ID
- 27327285
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 2325-8179
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 2325-8160
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.3928/23258160-20160601-07
Language
- eng