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IMS's Health Services Research Network (HSRN) is made up of academic researchers who are conducting empirically rigorous, policy-relevant studies to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of healthcare. The network includes members from complementary disciplines including pharmacy, medicine, law, economics, business and public policy. This annotated bibliography reflects more than 100 publications by HSRN members in the peer-reviewed literature during recent years using IMS Health's data assets.

Search the articles by clicking on the first letter of the lead author's last name:

A - D | E - H | I - L | M - P | Q - T | U - Z

A - D 

Aitken ML, Berndt ER, Cutler DM. Prescription Drug Spending Trends in the US: Looking Beyond the Turning Point. Health Affairs – Web Exclusive. 2009; 28:W151-60.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19088102
The authors used National Sales Perspective™ (NSP) and National Prescription Audit™ (NPA) to document trends and identify underlying components: declines in the role of blockbuster drugs, increased importance of biologics and vaccines relative to traditional pharmaceuticals, and a changing medication mix away from those prescribed principally by primary care physicians toward those mostly prescribed by specialists.

Alexander GC, Sehgal NL, Moloney RM, Stafford RS. National Trends in Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, 1994-2007. Archives of Internal Medicine. 2008;168:2088-2094.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18955637
The authors used the National Disease and Therapeutic Index™ (NDTI), National Prescription Audit™ (NPA), and National Sales Perspective™ (NSP) to analyze medications prescribed between 1994-2007 for Type 2 diabetes. They also estimate total costs of diabetes treatments between 2001 and 2008. They conclude that increasingly complex and costly diabetes treatments are being applied to a growing population.

Alexander GC, Gallagher SA, Mascola A, Moloney RM, Stafford RS. Increasing Off-Label Use of Antipsychotic Medications in the United States, 1995-2008. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2011;20:177-184
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21218418
 The authors used the IMS National Disease and Therapeutic Index™ (NDTI) to quantify patterns of typical and atypical antipsychotic use. They document the replacement of typical with atypical agents, substantial increases in atypical use from 2000 through 2007, and an increasing use of atypical therapies for settings with uncertain scientific support.

Allen-Ramey FC, Bukstein D, Luskin A, Sajjan SG, Markson LE. Administrative claims analysis of asthma-related health care utilization for patients who received inhaled corticosteroids with either montelukast or salmeterol as combination therapy. Journal of Managed Care Pharmacy. 2006;12:310-21.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16792437
 The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data to compare asthma-related health care resource utilization among a matched cohort of asthma patients between the ages of 4-55 years using inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) plus either montelukast (MON) or salmeterol (SAL) as combination therapy for asthma. The use of ICS/MON compared with ICS/SAL resulted in similar odds of oral corticosteroid fills, decreased odds of Emergency Department visits and asthma-related hospitalizations, but higher utilization of short-acting beta-agonist (SABA) fills.

Arellano F, Wentworth CE, Arana A, Fernandez C, Paul C. Risk of Lymphoma Following Exposure to Calcineurin Inhibitors and Topical Steroids in Patients with Atopic Dermatitis. Journal of Investigative Dermatology. 2007; 127:808-16.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17096020
The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data to perform a nested case-control study evaluating the association between topical immunosuppressants and lymphoma in a cohort of patients with atopic dermatitis. Conditional logistic regression analysis suggested that severity of atopic dermatitis was the main factor associated with an increased risk of lymphoma.

Arellano FM, Ulcickas Yood M, Wentworth CE, et al. Use of Cyclo-Oxygenase 2 Inhibitors (COX-2) and Prescription Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDS) in UK and USA Populations: Implications for COX-2 Cardiovascular Profile. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety. 2006;15:861-872.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17086563
 The authors combined IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data and The Health Improvement Network (THIN) data from the United Kingdom to describe the patterns of NSAIDS and COX-2 use between 1995-2004. Among the cohorts, COX-2 use was higher in the US (21%) than UK (16%). More COX-2 users than NSAIDS users received concomitant gastroprotective agents (GPA), corticosteroids and anti-platelet therapy, and had a history of thromboembolic events and hypertension. US patients were prescribed higher doses of both NSAIDS and COX-2.

Atkins CY, Patel A, Taylor TH Jr, Biggerstaff M, Merlin TL, Dulin SM, Erickson BA, Borse RH, Hunkler R, Meltzer MI. Estimating Effect of Antiviral Drug Use during Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Outbreak, United States. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2011;17:1591-8.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21888783
 The authors used the IMS Xponent™ prescriptions database to estimate the number of hospitalizations likely averted due to use of influenza neuraminidase-inhibiting antiviral drugs during the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 outbreak. The authors estimated that the ≈8.2 million filled prescriptions prevented ≈8,400-12,600 hospitalizations (on the basis of median values). They argue that public health officials should consider these estimates an indication of success of treating patients during the 2009 pandemic and a warning of the need for renewed planning to cope with the next pandemic.

Banarjee D, Stafford RS. Lack of Improvement in Outpatient Management of Congestive Heart Failure in the United States. Arch Intern Med. 2010;170:1399-1400.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20696970
 The authors used the IMS National Disease and Therapeutic Index™ (NDTI) to evaluate whether patterns of congestive heart failure medications have adopted evidence-based therapies. They found some recommended therapies to begin to decline in the mid-2000s while others reached a plateau in this same time frame.

Berndt ER, Danzon PM, Kruse GB. Dynamic Competition in Pharmaceuticals: Cross-National Evidence from New Drug Diffusion. Managerial and Decision Economics. 2007;28:231-250.
The authors use IMS Health MIDAS™ data to examine differences in treatment intensity, daily doses and expenditures across countries, assess differences in prices (per daily dose) of new vs old medicines, and report cross-country differences in the promotion of prescription drugs for antihypertensives, antidepressants and antiepileptics. They found substantial variation across classes and countries in promotion and diffusion. Relative to other countries, the United States was in the middle when comparing relative prices of old vs new drugs. Differences across therapeutic classes were particularly striking.

Berndt ER, Mortimer R, Bhattacharjya A, Parece A, Tuttle E. Authorized Generic Drugs, Price Competition and Consumers’ Welfare. Health Affairs. 2007;26:790-799.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17485758
 The authors used IMS National Sales Perspective™ and the National Prescription Audit™ data to analyze the effect of authorized generic entry on the timing of generic entry, brand-name and generic prices, and generic penetration. After the first four or five generic entrants, additional entrants appeared to have no effect on the long-run generic-to-brand price ratios.

Black L, Naslund MJ, Gilbert TD Jr, Davis EA, Ollendorf DA. An Examination of Treatment Patterns and Costs of Care Among Patients with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia. American Journal of Managed Care. 2006;12:S99-S110.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16551208
The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data to examine utilization and costs of care for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)-related services in a large cohort of commercially insured persons. The sample included men age 45 and older who were newly diagnosed with BPH between 2000 and 2001. The results suggest that most patients undergo watchful waiting in the year after diagnosis, while rates of surgery and adverse events were low but costly.

Brassard P, Kezouh A, Suissa S. Antirheumatic drugs and the risk of tuberculosis. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2006;43:717-22.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16912945
The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data to quantify the rate of tuberculosis (TB) among a cohort of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to assess whether the independent use of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) is associated with the risk of developing TB. They used conditional logistic regression in a nested case-control analysis of all subjects with 1 or more diagnoses of RA from 1998 to 2003. The use of biological and traditional DMARDs was associated with an increased risk of developing TB, mainly among noncurrent users of corticosteroids.

Chatterjee S, Chen H, Johnson ML, Aparasu RR. Risk of falls and fractures in older adults using atypical antipsychotic agents: a propensity score-adjusted, retrospective cohort study. Am J Geriatric Pharmacother. 2012;10:83-94.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22306198
The authors used the IMS LifeLink™ Health Plan Claims Database to examine the risk of falls and fractures in matched cohorts of older adults taking risperdone, olanzapine, and quetiapine from July 2000 to June 2008. After adjusting for propensity scores, the Cox proportional hazards model showed no statistically significant difference accross the individual atypical agents with respect to risk of falls/fractures.

Chressanthis GA, Khedkar P, Jain N, Poddar P, Seiders MG. Can Access Limits on Sales Representatives to Physicians Affect Clinical Prescription Decisions? A Study of Recent Events With Diabetes and Lipid Drugs. J Clin Hypertens. 2012;17:435-46.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22747616
The authors used the IMS Healthcare Organization Services™ (HCOS) database and the IMS Xponent™ database to analyze prescribing decisions for diabetes and lipid drugs among 58,647 to 72,114 physicians. Physicians' medical practices were categorized according to the ease of access for pharmaceutical sales representatives. The authors found that physicians with lower access to representatives had slower adoption rates for a new diabetes therapy and were also slower to reduce their use of rosiglitazone following  a black box warning or to switch to lipid therapy. Restricted access to pharmaceutical representatives can both limit positive information about innovative drugs and also reduce appropriate responses to negative information about drugs.

Chressanthis GA, Khedkar P, Jain N, Poddar P, Seiders MG. Can Access Limits on Sales Representatives to Physicians Affect Clinical Prescription Decisions? A Study of Recent Events With Diabetes and Lipid Drugs. J Clin Hypertens. 2012;17:435-46.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22747616
The authors used the IMS Healthcare Organization Services™ (HCOS) database and the IMS Xponent™ database to analyze prescribing decisions for diabetes and lipid drugs among 58,647 to 72,114 physicians. Physicians' medical practices were categorized according to the ease of access for pharmaceutical sales representatives. The authors found that physicians with lower access to representatives had slower adoption rates for a new diabetes therapy and were also slower to reduce their use of rosiglitazone following  a black box warning or to switch to lipid therapy. Restricted access to pharmaceutical representatives can both limit positive information about innovative drugs and also reduce appropriate responses to negative information about drugs.

Cohen A, Rabbani A, Shah N, Alexander GC. Changes in Glitazone Use Among Office-based Physicians in the U.S.,2003-2009. Diabetes Care. 2010;33:823-825
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20103549
 The authors used IMS Health’s National Disease and Therapeutic Index™ data to describe changes in rosglitazone and pioglitazone use. They found an increase in glitazone use from 2003 to 2005 followed by a decrease of 16% in rosiglitazone and an increase of 14% in pioglitazone from 2005 to January 2007. Accompanying the FDA advisory there was a sharp decline in rosiglitazone from February 2007 to May 2008 while pioglitazone use simultaneously remained steady.

Conti RM, Bernstein AC, Villaflor VM, Schilsky RL, Rosenthal MB. Prevalence of Off-Label Use and Spending in 2010 Among Patent-Protected Chemotherapies in a Population-Based Cohort of Medical Oncologists. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2013; 31(9) 1134-1139
http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/31/9/1134.full.pdf html
The authors used IMS Health National Sales Perspectives™ to examine the prevalence of off-label anticancer drug utilization, basing criteria for off-label use on the National Comprehensive Care Network (NCCN) Compendium recommendations. Seventy percent of use was on-label, while 30% was off-label and 14% of use fitted an NCCN-supported off-label indication. Ten percent of off-label use was associated with an FDA-approved cancer site but an NCCN unsupported cancer stage. Spending for chemotherapies was $12 billion. They concluded that commonly used, novel chemotherapies are more often used on-label than off-label in contemporary practice. Off-label use is composed of a roughly equal mix of chemotherapy applied in clinical settings supported by the NCCN and those that are not.

Doloresco F, Fominaya C, Schumock GT, Vermeulen LC, Matusiak L, Hunkler RJ, Shah ND, Hoffman JM . Projecting Future Drug Expenditures--2011. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2011;68:e1-e12.
http://www.ajhp.org/site/Drugexpenditures_2011.pdf
The authors used National Sales Perspectives™ (NSP) and National Prescription Audit™ (NPA) to analyze drug expenditure trends in 2009 and 2010, to project drug expenditures for 2011, and to examine factors likely to influence drug expenditures. Taking into account health care reform, past trends, and other related factors, the authors predicted a 3-5% increase in drug expenditures in outpatient settings, a 4-6% increase in expenditures for clinic administered drugs, and a 1-3% increase in hospital drug expenditures.

Donohue JM, Berndt ER, Rosenthal M, Epstein AM, Frank RG. Effects of Pharmaceutical Promotion on Adherence to Guideline Treatment of Depression. Medical Care. 2004;42:1176-1185.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15550797
 The authors used IMS Health Integrated Promotions Services™ and MarketScan medical claims database to analyze the impact of consumer- and physician- directed marketing of antidepressants on the likelihood of being prescribed an antidepressant for a new episode of depression and the duration of antidepressant treatment. Direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) had a significant impact on the odds of prescription receipt while free samples had no effect.

Dorn SD, Wei D, Farley JF, Shah ND, Shaheen NJ, Sandler RS, Kappelman MD. Impact of the 2008-2009 economic recession on screening colonoscopy utilization among the insured. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2012;10:278-84.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22155558
The authors used the IMS LifeLink™ Health Plan Claims Database to determine monthly rates of screening colonoscopies before and during the 2008-2009 economic recession. During the recession, insured individuals reduced their use of screening colonoscopy compared with the 2 years before the recession began. Out-of-pocket costs were related inversely to screening use. Policies to reduce cost sharing could increase adherence to recommended preventive services such as colonoscopy examinations.

Dorn SD, Farley JF, Hansen RA, Shah ND, Sandler RS. Direct-to-Consumer and Physician Promotion of Tegaserod Correlated With Physician Visits, Diagnoses, and Prescriptions. Gastroenterology. 2009; 137:518-524.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19445943
 The authors used an Integrated Promotional Services™ database, the National Ambulatory/Hospital Medical Care Surveys (1997-2005), and IMS Health’s National Prescription Audit™ to analyze the impact of direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) and physician promotion of tegaserod on the number of office visits for abdominal pain, constipation, and bloating; diagnoses of irritable bowel syndrome; and tegaserod prescriptions. They found a significant relationship between physician promotion, though not DTCA, and tegaserod prescribing.

Dorsey ER, Rabbani A, Gallagher SA, Conti RM, Alexander GC. Impact of FDA Black Box Advisory on Antipsychotic Medication Use. Archives of Internal Medicine. 2010; 170:96-103.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20065205
The authors used the National Disease and Therapeutic Index™ (NDTI) to evaluate the impact of the 2005 FDA black box warning regarding the risks of atypical anti-psychotic use among elderly patients with dementia on the use of these agents. They found that the FDA advisory was associated with a 2% decrease in the use of atypical antipsychotics overall and a 19% decrease in use among elderly patients with dementia.

Dorsey ER, Thompson JP, Dayoub EJ, George B, Saubermann LA, Holloway RG. Selegiline Shortage: Causes and Costs of a Generic Drug Shortage. Neurology. 2009; 73:213-7.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19620609
 The authors used National Prescription Audit™ (NPA) to evaluate prescription trends of generic selegiline and to quantify the economic impact of any drug substitution resulting from shortages of the generic drug that occurred in September 2007. They found that the societal cost of substituting generic selegiline with branded capsules was $75,000 over the first 4 months of the shortage.

E - H 

Epstein AJ, Busch SH, Busch AB, Asch DA, Barry CL. Does exposure to conflict of interest policies in psychiatry residency affect antidepressant prescribing? Medical Care. 2013;51(2):199-203
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23142772
The authors used 2009 physician-level national administrative prescribing data from IMS Health Xponent™ to determine whether exposure to Conflict of Interest (COI) policies during psychiatry residency training affects psychiatrists' antidepressant prescribing patterns after graduation.  Rates of prescribing heavily promoted, brand reformulated, and brand antidepressants in 2009 were lower among post-COI graduates than pre-COI graduates at all levels of COI restrictiveness. They call for further research to assess whether these policies affect other drug classes and physician specialties similarly.

Gaglio PJ, Moss N, McGaw C, Reinus J. Direct-Acting Antiviral Therapy for Hepatitis C: Attitudes Regarding Future Use. Dig Dis Sci. 2011 Feb 19. [Epub ahead of print]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21336604
 The authors used IMS Health Incorporated Prescriber Profiler™ data to establish the number of prescriptions written to treat Hepatitis C, as well as the fraction of these written by gastroenterologists or hepatologists (55%), internal medicine physicians (11%), and nurse practitioners (8%). They used these data in a survey evaluating knowledge and attitudes towards direct-acting antiviral therapies and other treatments of Hepatitis C.

Gallini A, Donohue JM, Huskamp HA. Diffusion of antipsychotics in the U.S. and French markets, 1998-2008.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23584568
The authors used the IMS Health Xponent™ database and the French GERS database to examine trends in the adoption of second-generation antipsychotics in the US and France. Between 1998 and 2008, total antipsychotic use in the United States increased by 78%. Total use in France was consistently higher despite a 9% decrease during the period. By 2008, second-generation antipsychotics represented 86% of the antipsychotics sold in the U.S. market, versus only 40% of the French market. They concluded that there are markedly divergent trends in the diffusion of new antipsychotics in France and the United States. Some differences may be explained by differences in health systems; others may reflect physicians’ preferences and norms of practice.

Gautier D, Lichtenberg FR. Does competition stimulate drug utilization? The impact of changes in market structure on US drug prices, marketing and utilization. International Review of Law and Economics. 2012;32:95-109.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0144818811000585
The authors used IMS sales and promotional data to examine the relationship between drug pricing, marketing expenditures, and the demand for prescription drugs between 2000 and 2004. They found that the two effects of increased competition on utilization – positive (via price), and negative (via marketing) – almost exactly offset one another, so the net effect of patent expiration on drug utilization is zero.

Gibbons RD, Brown CH, Hr K, et al. Early evidence on the effects of regulators’ suicidality warnings on SSRI prescriptions and suicide in children and adolescents. American Journal of Psychiatry. 2007; 164:1356-63.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17728420
The authors used the National Prescription Audit™ (NPA) to assess whether regulatory warnings discouraged use of antidepressants in children and adolescents and whether they led to increases in suicide rates as a result of untreated depression. They found that SSRI prescriptions for youths decreased by approximately 22% in both the US and the Netherlands after the warnings were issued. In the Netherlands, the youth suicide rate increased by 49% between 2003 and 2005 and in the US, youth suicide rates increased by 14% between 2003 and 2004.

Graziul C, Gibbons R, Alexander GC. Association between the commercial characteristics of psychotropic drugs and their off-label use. Medical Care. 2012;50(11):940-947
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23047783
The authors linked data from the IMS Health National Disease and Therapeutic Index™ (NDTI) with data from FDA@gov and the drug compendium DrugDex, to quantify the association between 4 commercial characteristics of prescription medicines and off-label use of antidepressants, antipsychotics, and mood stabilizers from 1998 through 2009.  They find that drug prescription volume, rather than product age or therapeutic class age, was most strongly associated with a medicine’s likelihood of off-label use. These associations were similar when examining scientifically unsupported rather than all off-label use.

Grinols EL, Lin HC. Patent Replacement and Welfare Gains. Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control. 2011;35:1586-1604.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165188911000893
 The authors used data from the IMS National Sales Perspectives™ (NSP) and National Prescription Audit™ (NPA) to perform simulations of patent replacement and to assess the impacts on welfare and innovation. From simulations involving four drug sectors, the authors concluded that replacing patents with an intertemporal-bounty arrangement has the potential to increase welfare in the United States through reform of pharmaceutical patents by $43.9–$194 billion in present value terms (0.3–1.3% of annual GDP). The potential to increase welfare would be higher if applied to the larger sector of drugs as a whole.

Guda NM, Vakil N. Proton pump inhibitors and the time trends for esophageal dilation. American Journal of Gastroenterology. 2004;99:797-800.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15128339
The authors used the computerized databases of two large community hospitals and National Prescription Audit™ (NPA) data to determine the time trends for upper endoscopy and stricture dilation before and after the availability of proton pump inhibitors from 1986 through 2001. The need for stricture dilation peaked in 1994 (from 4% of patients in 1989 to 6% in 1994), and has declined thereafter, corresponding to an increase in the use of proton pump inhibitors. However, the need for esophageal dilation has not been abolished.

Hawkins RG, Houston MC. Is population-wide diuretic use directly associated with the incidence of end-stage renal disease in the United States? A hypothesis. American Journal of Hypertension. 2006;19:565-7.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15925729
The authors used MIDAS™ along with a national databases for all-cause cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality and stroke mortality from the National Vital Statistics Registry, and US Renal Data Service information to determine whether changes in drug use patterns are predictive of disease emergence in the US from 1980-98. Increasing annual diuretic distribution was directly associated with accelerated time-lagged growth rates of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) incidence.

Hayes BL, Curtis JR, Laster A, Saag K, Tanner SB, Liu C, Womack C, Johnson KC, Fazila Khaliq, Carbone LD. Osteoporosis Care in the United States After Declines in Reimbursements for DXA. Journal of Clinical Densitometry. 2010;13:352-360.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21029972
 The authors used the IMS National Prescription Audit™ to quantify the number of prescriptions for osteoporosis drugs, stratified by prescriber specialty, from 2005 to 2008. The authors found an increase in retail prescriptions for FDA approved osteoporosis drugs during 2007 to 2008 compared with 2005 to 2006.

Herfarth HH, Long MD, Isaacs KL. Methotrexate: underused and ignored? Digestive Diseases and Sciences. 2012; 30(3): 112-8
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23295701
The authors used the IMS LifeLink™ Health Plan Claims Database to examine the potential reasons for the underuse of methotrexate in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Methotrexate is underused due to reasons such as the need to be injected or that it cannot be used during pregnancy. They conclude that even though methotrexate is not often used for IBD treatment, it should be considered since it is an affordable and effective alternative for Crohn’s disease therapy. The authors conclude that methorexate remains an affordable and effective treatment for Crohn’s disease, especially considering its relatively low costs.

Hersh AL, Stafford RS. Antiviral Prescribing by Office-Based Physicians During the 2009 H1N1 Pandemic. Ann Intern Med. 2011;154:74-6.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21200049
 The authors used the IMS National Disease and Therapeutic Index™ (NDTI) to estimate the number of monthly visits in which influenza was diagnosed and the proportion of visits in which an antiviral was prescribed for influenza between October 2006 and March 2010. The authors found a surge of influenza visits and antiviral prescribing attributable to the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic from October to December 2009, though there was no change in the overall propensity to prescribe antivirals in ambulatory settings compared with previous years.

Hicks LA, Taylor TH Jr, Hunkler RJ. U.S. outpatient antibiotic prescribing, 2010. N Engl J  Med. 2013;368:1461-2.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23574140
Data on oral antibiotic prescriptions dispensed during 2010 in the United States were extracted from the IMS Health Xponent™ database. Prescriptions were totaled for 17 provider specialty groups on the basis of the self-designated specialty of the prescriber (as defined by the American Medical Association) associated with each prescription. Health care providers prescribed 258.0 million courses of antibiotics in 2010, or 833 prescriptions per 1000 persons. Penicillins and macrolides were the most common categories prescribed. The most frequently prescribed antibiotic agent was azithromycin. Prescribing rates were higher among children and the elderly. Prescribing rates varied considerably according to provider specialty.

Hicks L.A, Chien YW, Taylor TH Jr, Haber M, Klugman KP on behalf of the Active Bacterial Core Surveillance (ABCs) Team. Outpatient Antibiotic Prescribing and Nonsusceptible Streptococcus Pneumoniae in the United States, 1996–2003. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2011;53:631-9.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21890767
The authors used the IMS Health Xponent™ database to assess the relationship between antibiotic prescribing and nonsusceptibility among invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) isolates. The authors found that in sites where antibiotic prescribing is high, the proportion of nonsusceptible IPD is also high, suggesting that local prescribing practices contribute to local resistance patterns.

Hicks LA, Suda KJ, Roberts RM, Hunkler RJ, Taylor TH, Danziger LH. Data Reveal Wide Geographic Variability in Antimicrobial Use in the United States, 2009.
http://idsa.confex.com/idsa/2010/webprogram/Paper3571.html and
Poster, Infectious Disease Society of America, October, 2010.
The authors used National Sales Perspective™ (NSP) to document that roughly two-thirds of U.S. sales of antibiotics in 2009 were distributed via non-acute channels. Additional observations were made through the use of Xponent™: A group of Southern states exhibited inordinately high prescribing rates of all classes of antibiotics; and states in which CDC-funded appropriate antibiotic use campaigns were in place exhibited below-average prescribing rates.

Higashi A, Zhu S, Stafford RS, Alexander GC. National Trends in Ambulatory Asthma Treatment, 1997-2009. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2011;12:1465-70.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21769507
 The authors used the IMS National Disease and Therapeutic Index™ (NDTI) and the National Ambulatory Care Survey (NAMCS) to examine national trends in the office-based treatment of asthma between 1997 and 2009. Both datasets showed modest increases in the number of annual asthma visits over this time period. Changes in office-based treatment, including increased inhaled steroid use and increased combined steroid/long-acting β(2)-agonist use, coincided with reductions in asthma morbidity and mortality.

Hoffman JM, Li E, Doloresco F, Matusiak L, Hunkler RJ, Shah ND, Vermeulen LC, Schumock GT. Projecting future drug expenditures in U.S. nonfederal hospitals and clinics—2013. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy. 2013; 70: e1-e15
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23456407
The authors used IMS Health National Sales Perspectives™ database to analyze prescription drug expenditures from September 2011 through 2012. Total prescription sales in the US increased 0.8% from the previous 12 months at $326.0 billion. The rate of growth was low due to increases in new product expenditures (3.3%) and the prices of existing products (5.9%), in addition to an overall decline in volume and mix (-8.4%). Total prescription expenditures grew 2.7%, with oncology products accounting for 32.3% of drug expenditures in the clinic setting the first 9 months, and antineoplastic agents being the top expenditure in nonfederal hospitals.

Hoffman JM, Li E, Doloresco, Matusiak L, Hunkler RJ, Shah ND, Vermeulen LC, Schumock GT. Projecting future drug expenditures—2012. Am J Health-Syst Pharm. 2012;69:e5-e21.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22345420
The authors used data from the IMS National Sales Perspectives™ (NSP) to examine trends in total U.S. drug expenditures as well as expenditures in hospital and clinic sectors. They found that total drug expenditures increased by 2.7%, from 2009-2010, with total spending rising from $299.2 billion to $307.5 billion. Drug expenditures in clinics grew by 6.0% while hospital drug expenditures increased at the moderate rate of 1.5%. For 2012, the authors project a 3-5% increase in total drug expenditures across all settings, a 5-7% increase in expenditures for clinic-administered drugs, and a 0-2% increase in hospital drug expenditures.

Hoffman JM, Li E, Doloresco, Matusiak L, Hunkler RJ, Shah ND, Vermeulen LC, Schumock GT. Projecting future drug expenditures—2012. Am J Health-Syst Pharm. 2012;69:e5-e21.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22345420
The authors used data from the IMS National Sales Perspectives™ (NSP) to examine trends in total U.S. drug expenditures as well as expenditures in hospital and clinic sectors. They found that total drug expenditures increased by 2.7%, from 2009-2010, with total spending rising from $299.2 billion to $307.5 billion. Drug expenditures in clinics grew by 6.0% while hospital drug expenditures increased at the moderate rate of 1.5%. For 2012, the authors project a 3-5% increase in total drug expenditures across all settings, a 5-7% increase in expenditures for clinic-administered drugs, and a 0-2% increase in hospital drug expenditures.

Hoffman JM, Doloresco F, Vermeulen LC, Shah ND, Matusiak L, Hunkler RJ, Schumock GT. Projecting Future Drug Expenditures--2010. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2010;67:919-28.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20484216
 The authors used National Sales Perspectives™ (NSP) and National Prescription Audit™ (NPA) to analyze drug expenditure trends in 2008 and 2009, to project drug expenditures for 2010, and to examine factors likely to influence drug expenditures. Taking into account health care reform, past trends, and other related factors, the authors predicted a 3-5% increase in drug expenditures in outpatient settings, 6-8% increase in expenditures for clinic administered drugs, and a 2-4% increase in hospital drug expenditures.

Hoffman JM, Shah ND, Vermeulen LC, Doloresco F, Martin PK, Blake S, et al. Projecting Future Drug Expenditures – 2009. American Journal of Health System Pharmacy. 2009; 66:237-57.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19179637
The authors used National Sales Perspectives™ (NSP) and National Prescription Audit™ (NPA) to analyze drug expenditure trends in 2007 and 2008, project drug expenditures for 2009, and examine factors likely to influence drug expenditures.

Hoffman JM, Shah ND, Vermeulen LC, Schumock GT, Grim P, Hunkler RJ, Hontz KM. Projecting future drug expenditures – 2007. American Journal of Health System Pharmacy. 2007;64:298-314.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17244880
The authors used National Sales Perspectives™ (NSP) and National Prescription Audit™ (NPA) to analyze drug expenditure trends in 2005 and 2006, project drug expenditures for 2007, and examine factors likely to influence drug expenditures.

Hoffman JM, Shah ND, Vermeulen LC, Schumock GT, Grim P, Hunkler RJ, Hontz KM. Projecting future drug expenditures – 2006. American Journal of Health System Pharmacy. 2006;63:123-38.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16390926
The authors used National Sales Perspectives™ (NSP) and National Prescription Audit™ (NPA) to analyze drug expenditure trends in 2004 and 2005, project drug expenditures for 2006, and examine factors likely to influence drug expenditures.

Hoffman JM, Shah ND, Vermeulen LC, Hunkler RJ, Hontz KM. Projecting Future Drug Expenditures – 2005. American Journal of Health System Pharmacy. 2005;62:149-67.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15700889
 The authors used National Sales Perspectives™ (NSP) and National Prescription Audit™ (NPA) to analyze drug expenditure trends in 2003 and 2004, project drug expenditures for 2005, and examine factors likely to influence drug expenditures.

Hoffman JM, Shah ND, Vermeulen LC, Hunkler RJ, Hontz KM. Projecting future drug expenditures – 2004. American Journal of Health System Pharmacy. 2004;61:145-
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14750400
The authors used National Sales Perspectives™ (NSP) and National Prescription Audit™ (NPA) to analyze drug expenditure trends since 2002, project drug expenditures for 2004, and examine factors likely to influence drug expenditures.

Huskamp HA, O'Malley AJ, Horvitz-Lennon M, Taub AL, Berndt ER, Donohue JM. How quickly do physicians adopt new drugs? The case of second-generation antipsychotics. Psychiatric Services. 2013; 64(4): 324-30
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23280376
The authors used IMS Xponent™ and Cox proportional-hazards models to examine physician adoption of second-generation antipsychotic medications and to detect physician-level factors associated with early adoption. Doctors waited an average of two years to before prescribing new second-generation antipsychotics. General practitioners were much slower than psychiatrists to adopt second-generation antipsychotics, while solo practitioners were slower than group practitioners to adopt most products. Psychiatrists prescribed a broader set of antipsychotics than other provider types. Understanding the numerous factors that influence physicians’ adoption of new medications is vital to improving value and safety.

Huskamp HA, Donohue JM, Koss C, Berndt ER, Frank RG. Generic Entry, Reformulations, and Promotion of SSRIs. PharmacoEconomics. 2008; 26:603-16.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18563951
The authors used Integrated Promotional Services™ (IPS) to examine the relationships among promotional expenditures, generic entry, reformulation entry and new indication approval. They found that the introduction of new product formulations appears to be a common strategy for extending market exclusivity for medications facing impending generic entry. Manufacturers who introduced a reformulation before generic entry shifted most promotion dollars from the original brand to the reformulation long before generic entry, and in some cases appeared to target a particular promotion type for a given indication.

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Issa MM, Runken MC, Grogg AL, Shah MB. A large retrospective analysis of acute urinary retention and prostate-related surgery in BPH patients treated with 5-alpha reductase inhibitors: dutasteride versus finasteride. American Journal of Managed Care. 2007;13Suppl1:S10-6.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17295600
The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data to examine rates of acute urinary retention and surgery among patients age 50 or older diagnosed with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) treated with 5-alpha reductase inhibitors (5ARIs). Patients treated with dutasteride were less likely to experience acute urinary retention than patients treated with finasteride (5.3% v 8.3%) and demonstrated a trend toward a lower likelihood of requiring surgery.

Jackevicius CA, Chou MM, Ross JS, Shah ND, Krumholz HM. Generic Atorvastatin and Health Care Costs. New England Journal of Medicine. 2011 December 14. [Epub ahead of print]
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1113112
 The authors used the IMS National Prescription Audit™ (NPA) to examine past trends in statin use and to project potential future cost savings associated with the availability of generic atorvastatin. The authors estimate that generic atorvastatin will have a market share of 44% by 3 years after market entry as a result of patients switching to it from simvastatin and from Crestor. Overall cost savings from the availability of generic atorvastatin are projected to reach $4.5 billion annually by 2014; however, Pfizer has employed aggressive business tactics to retain Lipitor’s revenue, delaying the release of the first generic product and postponing substantial cost savings. Pfizer's strategies may set a new precedent for the other blockbuster drugs on the verge of losing their patents.

Jackevicius CA, Tu JV, Ross JS, Ko DT, Carreon D, Krumholz HM. Use of Fibrates in the United States and Canada. JAMA. 2011;305:1217-1224.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21427374
 The authors used the National Prescription Audit™ (NPA) and the CompuScript Audit to compare the use of fibrates and evaluate the economic implications of brand vs generic use in the United States and Canada from January 2002 through December 2009. They found that use of fibrates increased steadily in the United States, though not in Canada, despite evidence raising questions regarding the relative benefits of fibrates compared with statins. Increases in fibrate use were driven primarily by branded fenofibrate.

Jick SS, Jick H. The contraceptive patch in relation to ischemic stroke and acute myocardial infarction. Pharmacotherapy. 2007; 27:218-20.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17253912
 The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data to compare rates of stroke and acute myocardial infarction in users of the Ortho EVRA contraceptive patch with these rates in users of norgestimate-containing oral contraceptives among females aged 15-45 who had filled at least one prescription for either type of contraceptive between 2002 and 2005. Both ischemic stroke and acute myocardial infarction were rare among young women who use hormonal contraceptives, and the data provided no suggestion of an increased risk of either in users of either type of contraceptive.

Jick SS, Jick H. Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis in users of four hormonal contraceptives: levonorgestrel-containing oral contraceptives, norgestimate-containing oral contraceptives, desogestrel-containing oral contraceptives and the contraceptive patch. Contraception. 2006;74:290-2.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16982227
The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data to assess the risk of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis among women aged 15-44 years who filled at least one prescription for either the contraceptive patch or oral contraceptives. There was no evidence of an increased risk of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis in users of the contraceptive patch compared to users of levonorgestrel-containing oral contraceptives.

Jick SS, Kaye JA, Russmann S, Jick H. Risk of Nonfatal Venous Thromboembolism in Women Using a Contraceptive Transdermal Patch and Oral Contraceptives Containing Norgestimate and 35 Microg of Ethinyl Estradiol. Contraception. 2006;73:223-8.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16472560
 The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data to assess the risk of nonfatal venous thromboembolism (VTE) in women aged 15-44, who either started using a new transdermal contraceptive patch or norgestimate-35 oral contraceptives after 4/2002. They found that the risk of nonfatal VTE for the patch is similar to the risk for oral contraceptives (OR 0.9 with 95% CI 0.5-1.6).

Joyce AT, Harrison DJ, Loebel AD, Carter CT, Ollendorf DA. Effect of Initial Ziprasidone Dose on Length of Therapy in Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research. 2006;83:285-92.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16545543
 The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data to examine the effects of initial ziprasidone dose on discontinuation rates in patients 18 years or older with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and a ziprasidone claim between 2001 and 2003. Patients initiating ziprasidone with an initial dose of at least 120 mg/day had better medication adherence compared to those initiating at lower doses.

Joyce AT, Harrison DJ, Loebel AD, Ollendorf DA. Impact of Atypical Antipsychotics on Outcomes of Care in Schizophrenia. The American Journal of Managed Care. 2005;11:S254-61.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16180964
The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data (formerly known as PharMetrics) to compare persistence, compliance, and psychiatric treatment costs in adults with schizophrenia having claims for atypical antipsychotics from 2001 through 2003. Patients initiated on ziprasidone had longer persistence, better compliance, and greater decreases in psychiatric-related costs than those initiated on other atypicals.

Joyce AT, Iacoviello JM, Nag S, Sajjan S, Jilinskaia E, Throop D, Pedan A, Ollendorf DA, Alexander CM. End Stage Renal Disease-Associated Managed Care Costs Among Patients With and Without Diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2004;27:2829-35.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15562193
The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data (formerly known as PharMetrics) to examine the direct costs of care before and after onset of end stage renal disease (ESRD) for patients with and without diabetes based on analyses of claims of patients with onset of ESRD between 1998 and 2002. The economic burden of ESRD in the year after onset is substantial, particularly among patients with diabetes.

Jumadilova Z, Varadharajan S, Girase P, Ollendorf DA. Retrospective Evaluation of Outcomes in Patients with Overactive Bladder Receiving Tolterodine Versus Oxybutynin. American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. 2006;63:2357-64.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17106009
The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data to assess the frequency, relative risk, resource utilization, and costs related to comorbidities associated with overactive bladder (OAB) based on analyses of patients with OAB who initiated treatment between 1/2001-12/2002. They found that treatment of OAB patients with tolterodine ER was associated with reduced frequency, relative risk, medical and pharmacy resource utilization, and incurred costs related to selected OAB-associated comorbidities compared with treatment with oxybutynin ER or oxybutynin IR.

Kappelman MD, Rifas-Shiman SL, Porter CQ, et. al. Direct Health Care Costs of Treatment of Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis in U.S. Children and Adults. Gastroenterology. 2008; 135:1907-13.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18854185
 The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data to estimate the direct costs of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) in the US, to describe the distribution of costs among inpatient, outpatient, and pharmaceutical services, and to identify sociodemographic factors influencing these costs. They analyze claims from 87 health plans in 33 states between 2003 and 2004. They estimate that mean annual costs for CD and UC were $8265 and $5066, respectively, and costs were significantly higher for children younger than 20 years of age.

Karaca-Mandic P, McCullough JS, Siddiqui MA, Van Houten H, Shah ND. Impact of New Drugs and Biologics on Colorectal Cancer Treatment and Costs. American Journal of Managed Care. 2011;17:e160-e168.
http://jop.ascopubs.org/content/7/3S/e30s.abstract
 The authors used the IMS LifeLink Health Plan Claims Database to identify two cohorts of privately insured patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer - those diagnosed before new treatment introduction (January to December 2002) and those diagnosed after new treatment introduction (June 2004 to May 2005). New treatment options rapidly replaced those used during the first era with FOLFOX alone increasing by 14%. The findings also demonstrated increased costs associated with the use of non-standard regimens and increases in the use of second-line therapies.

Keating KN, Friedman HS, Perfetto EM. Moxifloxacin versus levofloxacin for treatment of acute rhinosinusitis: a retrospective database analysis of treatment duration, outcomes, and charges. Current Medical Research and Opinion. 2006; 22:327-33.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16466604
The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data to examine how labeled recommendations for duration of moxifloxacin and levofloxacin treatment of acute bacterial rhinosinusitis compared with real-world practice, and compare the failure and recurrence rates, and associated charges, based on analyses of claims searched over a 3-year period for episodes of acute rhinosinusitis treated within 5 days with moxifloxacin or levofloxacin. Shorter treatment durations seen for moxifloxacin reflected the label-recommended duration for acute rhinosinusitis, resulted in better outcomes than levofloxacin re: risk of treatment failure and recurrence, and lower total charges.

King M, Essick C. The geography of antidepressant, antipsychotic, and stimulant utilization in the United States. Helth & Place. 2013; 20: 32-8
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23357544
The authors used IMS LifeLink™ Longitudinal Prescription database to analyze the use of antidepressant, antipsychotic and stimulant medications in the United States. The use of antidepressants in three digit postal codes ranged from less than 1% of residents to more than 40% residents. Clusters of elevated use of antidepressants, antipsychotics, and stimulants were also found in the postal codes. This geographic variation was found to be due to access to health care, insurance coverage and pharmaceutical marketing efforts. They concluded that access to health care, insurance coverage and pharmaceutical marketing efforts explain much of the geographic variation in use.

King M, Essick C, Bearman P, Ross JS. Medical school gift restriction policies and physician prescribing of newly marketed psychotropic medications: difference-in-differences analysis. BMJ. 2013; 346: 1-9
www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.f264
The authors used the IMS Health’s Lifelink™ LRX longitudinal prescription database to examine the effect of attending a medical school that has a policy restricting giving gifts to representatives of pharmaceutical and device industries on subsequent prescribing behavior. Newly marketed drugs and drugs in general were not prescribed as much when there was an active gift restriction policy. They concluded that exposure to a gift restriction policy during medication school was associated with reduced prescribing of two out of three newly introduced psychotropic medications.

Kirley K, Qato DM, Kornfield R, Stafford RS, Alexander GC. National trends in oral anticoagulant use in the United States, 2007 to 2011. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2012;5:615-621
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22949490
The authors used the IMS Health National Disease and Therapeutic Index™ (NDTI) to quantify patterns of oral anticoagulant use among all subjects and stratified by clinical indication. They found that dabigatran has been rapidly adopted into ambulatory practice in the United States, primarily for treatment of atrial fibrillation, but increasingly for off-label indications. They did not find evidence that dabigatran use has increased overall atrial fibrillation treatment rates.

Kornfield R, Donohue J, Berndt ER, Alexander GC. Promotion of Prescription Drugs to Consumers and Providers, 2001–2010. PLOS One.  2013;8:1-7
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0055504
The authors used IMS Health Integrated Promotional Services™ to examine whether pharmaceutical firms have changed promotional expenditures due to a variety of changing market forces including reductions in new product approvals, restrictions on some forms of promotion, and the expanding role of biologic therapies. Pharmaceutical promotion peaked in 2004 and had declined substantially by 2010. Direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) promotion similarly declined, and remains highly concentrated. Top biologics were promoted less than top-selling small molecule therapies. Little change occurred in the composition of promotion between primary care physicians and specialists from 2001–2010.

Kornfield R, Watson S, Higashi AS, Conti RM, Dusetzina SB, Garfield CF, Dorsey ER, Huskamp HA, Alexander GC. Effects of FDA Advisories On the pharmacologic Treatment of ADHD, 2004-2008. Psychiatric Services. 2013; 64(4): 339-46
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23318985
The authors used the IMS Health National Disease and Therapeutic Index™ to assess the effect of public health advisories issued between 2005 and 2007 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on treatments of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and physician prescribing practices. The authors did not find any evidence that FDA advisories regarding potential cardiovascular and other risks of ADHD medications affected the use of these medicines.

Kozman D, Graziul C, Gibbons R, Alexander GC. Association between unemployment rates and prescription drug utilization in the United States, 2007–2010. BMC Health Services Research. 2012; 12: 1-8.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23193954
The authors combined IMS Health Xponent™ from September 2007 through July 2010 with data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to examine the association between unemployment and utilization of prescriptions of seven therapeutic classes (statins, antidepressants, antipsychotics, angiotensin-converting enzyme [ACE] inhibitors, opiates, phosphodiesterase [PDE] inhibitors and oral contraceptives) in the United States. There were no statistically significant associations between use of ACE inhibitors or SSRIs/SNRIs and average unemployment in analyses across states, while for opioids and PDE inhibitors there were small statistically significant direct associations, and for the remaining classes inverse associations.  They conclude that any effects of the recent economic recession on prescription drug utilization have been mitigated by other market forces.

Kuntze E, Ollendorf DA, et al. Reduced Mortality Rate after Intensive Statin Therapy in Managed-care Patients. Value In Health. 2007;10:161-9.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17391425
The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data to evaluate whether intensive statin therapy in a managed-care setting produces greater clinical benefit than more moderate statin use based on analyses of adults hospitalized for coronary heart disease (CHD) between 2000 and 2003. They found that high risk CHD patients benefit from intensive statin therapy in a real-world, managed-care cohort, with a 29% reduced risk of death compared with those receiving standard therapy.

Laxminarayan R. Outpatient antibiotic use in the united states, 1999-2010; communicating antibiotic resistance to two common infections using a drug resistance index. 
http://www.cddep.org/tools/antibiotic_use_and_resistance_us_glance_1999_2010
The authors used data from IMS Health Xponent™  to examine trends in drug resistance and regional use of antibiotics between 1999 and 2010. They found that since 1999, the percentage of antibiotic prescriptions filled nationwide has dropped by 17%.  However, high-consumption states are lagging in this positive trend and are seeing the smallest decrease in prescriptions, resulting in a widening use gap.

Lee PP, Levin LA, Walt JG, Chiang TH, Doyle JJ, Stern LS, Dolgitser M. The impact of glaucoma coding in a large claims database. American Journal of Ophthalmology. 2007;143:867-70.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17452173
 The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data to develop methods for investigating adherence to glaucoma medications based on analyses of patients receiving glaucoma medication between 1999 and 2005, chart review, and patient and physician interviews. They found that large pharmacy databases are vulnerable to errors (e.g., poor adherence, misidentification of newly treated patients), that adherence to glaucoma treatments is poor, and that the mean medication possession ratio (0.64) was a robust measure of adherence over time.

Lee WC, Hoffmann MS, Arcona S, D'Souza J, Wang Q, Pashos CL. A cost comparison of alternative regimens for treatment-refractory partial seizure disorder: an econometric analysis. Clinical Therapeutics. 2005;27:1629-38.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16330300
 The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data (formerly known as PharMetrics) to examine the economic costs associated with treatment-refractory partial seizure disorder and to compare the costs of two alternative approaches: a switch to oxcarbazepine monotherapy or the addition of another antiepileptic drug. Patients who had a drug added on were significantly more likely than those who were switched to have an emergency room visit after the failure of the initial regimen.

Lee WC, Arcona S, Thomas SK, Wang Q, Hoffmann MS, Pashos CL. Effect of comorbidities on medical care use and cost among refractory patients with partial seizure disorder. Epilepsy & Behavior. 2005;7:123-6.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15939673
 The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data (formerly known as PharMetrics) to assess the effect of comorbidities on medical care use and costs among patients with partial seizure disorder who were refractory to initial antiepileptic drug monotherapy based on analyses of claims collected for adult patients treated with monotherapy between 2000 and 2002. They found that for patients refractory to initial AED monotherapy, the presence of comorbidities, especially depression, was associated with a substantial increase in medical care use and costs.

Lichtenberg FR. Pharmaceutical innovation and longevity growth in 30 developing and high-income countries, 2000-2009. NBER Working Paper No. 18235. Issued in July 2012
http://www.nber.org/papers/w18235
The author used the IMS MIDAS™ database to examine the impact of pharmaceutical innovation, as measured by the vintage of prescription drugs used, on longevity from 2000-2009. Using longitudinal, country-level data on 30 developing and high-income countries, he found that life expectancy at all ages and survival rates above age 25 increased faster in countries with larger increases in drug vintage and that the increase in drug vintage was the only variable significantly related to all measures of longevity growth. Pharmaceutical innovation is estimated to have accounted for almost three-fourths of the 1.74-year increase in life expectancy at birth in the 30 countries and for about one third of the 9.1-year difference in life expectancy at birth in 2009 between the top 5 countries  and the bottom 5 countries (ranked by drug vintage in 2009).

Lichtenberg FR. The impact of pharmaceutical innovation on longevity and medical expenditure in France, 2000-2008: Evidence from longitudinal, disease-level data. NBER Working Paper.
The author used the IMS MIDAS™ database to examine the impact of pharmaceutical innovation on longevity and medical expenditures in France from 2000-2008. Using longitudinal, disease-level data, he found that the introduction of new drugs to treat a disease generally results in an increase in longevity (age at death) several years later. New drugs introduced from 1997-2005 are estimated to have reduced the number of hospital days in 2008 by about 9% over the study period and to have increased pharmaceutical expenditures in 2008 by up to 23.5%.

Lichtenberg FR. Pharmaceutical innovation and longevity growth in 30 developing and high-income countries, 2000-2009. NBER Working Paper No. 18235. Issued in July 2012
http://www.nber.org/papers/w18235
The author used the IMS MIDAS™ database to examine the impact of pharmaceutical innovation, as measured by the vintage of prescription drugs used, on longevity from 2000-2009. Using longitudinal, country-level data on 30 developing and high-income countries, he found that life expectancy at all ages and survival rates above age 25 increased faster in countries with larger increases in drug vintage and that the increase in drug vintage was the only variable significantly related to all measures of longevity growth. Pharmaceutical innovation is estimated to have accounted for almost three-fourths of the 1.74-year increase in life expectancy at birth in the 30 countries and for about one third of the 9.1-year difference in life expectancy at birth in 2009 between the top 5 countries  and the bottom 5 countries (ranked by drug vintage in 2009).

Lichtenberg FR. The impact of pharmaceutical innovation on longevity and medical expenditure in France, 2000-2008: Evidence from longitudinal, disease-level data. NBER Working Paper.
The author used the IMS MIDAS™ database to examine the impact of pharmaceutical innovation on longevity and medical expenditures in France from 2000-2008. Using longitudinal, disease-level data, he found that the introduction of new drugs to treat a disease generally results in an increase in longevity (age at death) several years later. New drugs introduced from 1997-2005 are estimated to have reduced the number of hospital days in 2008 by about 9% over the study period and to have increased pharmaceutical expenditures in 2008 by up to 23.5%.

Lichtenberg FR. Pharmaceutical Companies' Variation of Drug Prices Within and Among Countries Can Improve Long-Term Social Well-Being. Health Affairs. 2011;30:1539-44.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21821571
The author used MIDAS™ data from IMS to examine the variation in drug prices across and within counties. He found that, on average, pharmaceutical companies charge lower prices in low-income countries than in industrialized nations. Manufacturers' ability to price products differently for different markets increases their profits overall, but it is also likely to result in greater investment in research and development, and therefore in more new drugs on the market.

Lichtenberg FR. Have newer cardiovascular drugs reduced hospitalization? Evidence from longitudinal country-level data on 20 OECD countries, 1995-2003. Health Economics. 2009; 18:519-534.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18634121
The author used MIDAS™ to examine the effect of changes in the vintage distribution of cardiovascular system drugs on hospitalization and mortality. The estimates indicate that the use of newer cardiovascular drugs has reduced the average length of hospital stay and the age-adjusted cardiovascular mortality rate, but not the number of potential years of life lost due to cardiovascular disease before age 70 per 100,000 population.

Lichtenberg FR. The impact of increased utilization of HIV drugs on longevity and medical expenditure: an assessment based on aggregate U.S. time-series data. Expert Review of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research. 2006; 6:425-436.
http://www.nber.org/papers/w12406.pdf
 The author used National Prescription Audit™ (NPA) in combination with the CDC’s AIDS Public Information Data Set and data from AHRQ’s Nationwide Inpatient Sample to estimate the medical cost per life-year gained from increased utilization of HIV drugs. Estimates imply that actual life expectancy of HIV/AIDS patients in 2001 was 13.4 years higher than it would have been if the drug utilization rate had not increased from its 1993 level, and medical cost per additional life-year is estimated to have been $17,175, widely considered cost-effective.

Lichtenberg FR. Pharmaceutical innovation and the burden of disease in developing countries. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy. 2005; 30:663-90.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16396790
The author used drug launch data from MIDAS™ to analyze the relationship across diseases between pharmaceutical innovation and the burden of disease in developed and developing countries. Two analyses indicate that the amount of pharmaceutical innovation is positively related to the burden of disease in developed countries but not to the burden of disease in developing countries.

Lichtenberg FR. The impact of new drug launches on longevity: evidence from longitudinal disease-level data from 52 countries, 1982-2001. International Journal of Health Care Finance and Economics. 2005; 5:47-73.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15714263
 The author used drug launch data from MIDAS™ to perform an econometric analysis of the effect of new drug launches on longevity. Under conservative assumptions, estimates imply that the average annual increase in life expectancy of the entire population resulting from new drug launches is about one week and that the incremental cost effectiveness ratio is about $6,750 – far lower than most estimates of the value of a statistical life-year.

Long MD, Martin C, Sandler RS, Kappelman MD. Increased risk of herpes zoster among 108 604 patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics. 2013; 37(4): 420-9
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23240738
The authors used the IMS LifeLink™ Health Plan Claims Database to determine the risk of herpes zoster (HZ) in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and how antitumour necrosis factor-alpha (anti-TNF) agents affect this risk. The IBD cohort had increased HZ risk compared with non-IBD.  Risk of HZ was highest with combination anti-TNF and thiopurine therapy. Anti-TNF, corticosteroids, and thiopurines were independently associated with HZ. Patients with inflammatory bowel disease are at increased risk for herpes zoster. Use of thiopurines, anti-TNF agents, combination therapy and corticosteroids increases herpes zoster risk.

Long MD, Farraye FA, Okafor PN, Martin C, Sandler RS, Kappelman MD. Increased risk of pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia among patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Inflammatory Bowel Disease. 2013; 19(5): 1018-24.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23478805
The authors used the IMS LifeLink™ Health Plan Claims to determine the incidence and relative risk of pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (PCP) in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and to describe medication exposures in patients with IBD with PCP. The crude incidence of PCP was higher in the IBD cohort (10.6/100,000) than in the non-IBD cohort (3.0/100,000). In the adjusted analyses, PCP risk was higher in the IBD versus non-IBD cohort with the most risk in Crohn's disease when compared with non-IBD. Although the overall incidence of PCP is low, patients with IBD are at increased risk. Patients with IBD with PCP are predominantly on corticosteroids alone or in combination before PCP diagnosis. Although the overall incidence of PCP is low, patients with IBD are at increased risk.

Long MD, Martin C, Sandler RS, Kappelman MD. Increased risk of pneumonia among patients with inflammatory bowel disease. The American Journal of Gastroenterology. 2013;108: 240-8.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23295276
The authors used the IMS LifeLink™ Health Plan Claims in a retrospective cohort and a nested case–control study to determine the pneumonia risk in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and how specific medications affect this risk. The IBD cohort had an increased pneumonia risk when compared to non-IBD. In the nested case–control analysis, the use of biologic medications, corticosteroids, thiopurines, proton-pump inhibitor, or narcotics was independently associated with pneumonia. They concluded the patients with IBD are at increased risk for pneumonia, particularly associated with the use of corticosteroids and narcotics. Primary prevention of pneumonia through vaccination and reduction of risk factors is warranted.

Long MD, Martin CF, Pipkin CA, Herfarth HH, Sandler RS, Kappelman MD. Risk of Melanoma and Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer Among Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Gastroenterology. 2012;143:390-9.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22584081
The authors used the IMS LifeLink™ Health Plan Claims Database to examine the risk of melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) among 108,579 patients with IBD from 1997 to 2009. Compared to matched controls, IBD was associated with an increased incidence of melanoma (IRR, 1.29; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09-1.53) and NMSC (IRR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.40-1.53). Therapy with biologics increased the risk of melanoma (odds ratio [OR], 1.88; 95% CI, 1.08-3.29) while thiopurines increased the risk of NMSC (OR, 1.85; 95% CI, 1.66-2.05).  Patients with IBD should be counseled and monitored for skin cancer.

Long MD, Martin CF, Pipkin CA, Herfarth HH, Sandler RS, Kappelman MD. Risk of Melanoma and Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer Among Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Gastroenterology. 2012;143:390-9.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22584081
The authors used the IMS LifeLink™ Health Plan Claims Database to examine the risk of melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) among 108,579 patients with IBD from 1997 to 2009. Compared to matched controls, IBD was associated with an increased incidence of melanoma (IRR, 1.29; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09-1.53) and NMSC (IRR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.40-1.53). Therapy with biologics increased the risk of melanoma (odds ratio [OR], 1.88; 95% CI, 1.08-3.29) while thiopurines increased the risk of NMSC (OR, 1.85; 95% CI, 1.66-2.05).  Patients with IBD should be counseled and monitored for skin cancer.

Long MD, Porter CQ, Sandler RS, Kappelman MD. Suboptimal Rates of Cervical Testing Among Women with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. 2009; 7:549-53.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18996498
The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data to determine cervical testing rates among women with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) on immunosuppressant medications, and to identify risk factors associated with low screening rates. They found systematic under-screening of women with IBD.

M - P 

MacDougall DA, Feliu AL, Boccuzzi SJ, Lin J. Economic burden of deep-vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, and post thrombotic syndrome. American Journal of Health System Pharmacy. 2006;63(20Suppl6):S5-15.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17032933
 The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data to determine the direct medical costs of a deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism (PE) patient across the entire continuum of care based on claims data analysis of patients with a DVT or PE diagnosis and patients with possible evidence of post-thrombotic syndrome between 1997 and 2004. The initial acute DVT or PE event was associated with high total healthcare costs and these costs were further increased by subsequent events such as recurrent DVT or PE and post-thrombotic syndrome.

MacDougall C, Powell JP, Johnson CK, Edmond MB, Polk RE. Hospital and community fluoroquinolone use and resistance in Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli in 17 US hospitals. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2005;41:435-40.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16028149
The authors used XPonent™ to determine whether variability in hospital percentages of fluoroquinolone‐resistant E. coli and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) were associated with fluoroquinolone use in hospitals and their surrounding communities. They found associations between fluoroquinolone use in hospitals and methicillin resistance in S. aureus and between fluoroquinolone use in communities and fluoroquinolone resistance in E. coli in hospitals.

Majumdar SR, Almasi EA, Stafford RS. Promotion and Prescribing of Hormone Therapy After Report by the Women’s Health Initiative. 2004;292:1983-1988.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15507584
 The authors used data from IMS Health’s National Prescription Audit™ (NPA) and Integrated Promotional Services™ (IPS), in conjunction with Consumer Media Reports to describe promotional expenditures before and after the publication of the Women’s Health Initiative trial in July 2002. The authors found a 32% decrease in hormone therapy prescriptions within nine months of the publication and a decrease in all promotional activities examined.

Martin-Doyle W, Essebag V, Zimetbaum P, Reynolds MR. Trends in US Hospitalization Rates and Rhythm Control Therapies Following Publication of the AFFIRM and RACE Trials. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2010 Nov 18.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21087329
 The authors used the IMS National Prescription Audit™ to examine the impact of trials comparing rate vs. rhythm control for atrial fibrillation on the use of rhythm control therapies and hospitalizations in the United States. Use of rhythm control therapies declined significantly after publication of the AFFIRM and RACE trials until 2005, when trends reversed and an increase in the use of catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation was also observed.

McClellan SR, Casalino LP, Shortell SM, Rittenhouse DR. When does adoption of health information technology by physician practices lead to use by physicians within the practice? Journal of The American Medical Informatics Association. 2013
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23396512
The authors used the IMS Healthcare Organization Services™ database to determine the extent to which adoption of health information technology (HIT) by physician practices may differ from the extent of use by individual physicians. There was a 34.1% rate adopting any of the five HIT functionalities of the physician practices. When the HIT functionalities were adopted, one in seven physicians did not use the functionalities and one in five physicians did not use prompts and reminders following adoption by their practice They concluded that larger practices were most likely to have adopted HIT, but other factors, including specialty mix and self-reported patient-centered management, had a stronger influence on the use of HIT once adopted; however, adoption of HIT by practices does not mean that physicians will use the HIT.

McLaughlin TP, Khandker RK, Kruzikas DT, Tummala R. Overlap of anxiety and depression in a managed care population: Prevalence and association with resource utilization. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 2006;67:1187-93.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16965195
The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data to characterize the diagnosis of anxiety and depression within a large managed care population and to measure the impact of having both of these conditions on treatment patterns, health care utilization, and cost. The combination of anxiety and depression was fairly common, patients with both conditions tended to have more somatic complaints, a higher incidence of antidepressant use, incur the highest utilization of medical services, and have the highest medical costs.

McLaughlin T, Geissler EC, Wan GJ. Comorbidities and associated treatment charges in patients with anxiety disorders. Pharmacotherapy. 2003;23:1251-6.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14594343
 The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data (formerly known as PharMetrics) to describe comorbidities and treatment charges in patients receiving initial anxiolytic therapy for anxiety disorders. Many chronic conditions were commonly associated with anxiety disorders, with hypertension the most common non-psychiatric comorbidity (22%) and depression the most common psychiatric comorbidity (37%). Treatment charges were significantly higher for patients diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.

Mehta S, Chen H, Johnson ML, Aparasu RR. Risk of Falls and Fractures in Older Adults Using Antipsychotic Agents: a Propensity-Matched Retrospective Cohort Study. Drugs Aging. 2010;27:815-29.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20883062
The authors used the IMS LifeLink™ Health Plan Claims Database to examine the risk of falls and fractures in matched cohorts of older adults taking atypical and typical antipsychotics from July 2000 to December 2007. Cox regression model analysis revealed no statistically significant difference between atypical users and typical users with respect to risk of falls/fractures. However, duration of therapy with any antipsychotic medication for >90 days was significantly associated with increased risk of falls/fractures compared with <30 days of treatment. There is a need to be cautious while prescribing atypical and typical antipsychotics in older adults for long periods of time.

Mehta S, Chen H, Johnson ML, Aparasu RR. Risk of Falls and Fractures in Older Adults Using Antipsychotic Agents: a Propensity-Matched Retrospective Cohort Study. Drugs Aging. 2010;27:815-29.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20883062
The authors used the IMS LifeLink™ Health Plan Claims Database to examine the risk of falls and fractures in matched cohorts of older adults taking atypical and typical antipsychotics from July 2000 to December 2007. Cox regression model analysis revealed no statistically significant difference between atypical users and typical users with respect to risk of falls/fractures. However, duration of therapy with any antipsychotic medication for >90 days was significantly associated with increased risk of falls/fractures compared with <30 days of treatment. There is a need to be cautious while prescribing atypical and typical antipsychotics in older adults for long periods of time.

Mehta S, Johnson ML, Chen H, Aparasu RR. Risk of Cerebrovascular Adverse Events in Older Adults Using Antipsychotic Agents: A Propensity-Matched Retrospective Cohort Study. J Clin Psychiatry. 2010;71:689-698.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20573328
 The authors use the IMS LifeLink™ Health Plan Claims Database to compare the risk of cerebrovascular adverse events with second-generation antipsychotic users versus those taking first-generation antipsychotics in community-dwelling older adults. Using regression analysis, the authors found no significant association between the use of the first-versus second-generation antipsychotics and a risk of cerebrovascular adverse events.

Mindel JS. Amiodarone and Optic Neuropathy. American Heart Journal. 2008; 156:411-13.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18760119
 The author used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data and National Prescription Audit™ (NPA) in addition to FDA records and a prospective, double-maked randomized trial to show that the existing literature and evidence estimates of the incidence of amiodarone-associated optic neuropathy are too high. They are skeptical that amiodarone produces a toxic neuropathy or that it has a preventative effect on idiopathic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy and do not recommend that physicians consider it as a factor in deciding whether a patient will benefit from its use.

Moore T. QuarterWatch 2010 Quarter 4: Signals for Two Newly Approved Drugs and 2010 Annual Summary. Institute for Safe Medication Practices, Horsham, PA. Published October 6, 2010. Accessed December 12, 2011.
http://www.ismp.org/quarterwatch/pdfs/2010Q4.pdf
 The authors used the IMS National Prescription Audit™ (NPA) to estimate outpatient prescriptions dispensed for several recently approved drugs that were associated with adverse events in the 4th quarter of 2010. In the full year 2010, new cases of serious, disabling or fatal adverse drug events reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration increased 21.1% over 2009, while total outpatients prescriptions increased by only 1.1%. Dalfampradine and dabigatran were both associated with high numbers of adverse event reports relative to their use, which may reflect a unique safety profile for products that are new, branded, and heavily promoted. For products with limited clinical benefits, such as dalfampradine, serious adverse event reports may tip the benefit-risk balance in an unfavorable direction.

Moore TJ. Monitoring FDA MedWatch Perspectives. Finasteride (PROPECIA) and sexual side effects Methylphenidate (DAYTRANA) patches and product problems, Update on anticoagulants 1/10/2013 Data from 2012 Quarter 2.
http://www.ismp.org/quarterwatch/pdfs/2012Q2.pdf
The authors analyzed FDA reports of adverse events associated with methylphenidate patch.  The authors used the IMS National Prescription Audit™ (NPA) to calculate total dispensed outpatient prescriptions, noting that it accounted for 3% of the ADHD market in 2012. The report highlights the heightened frequency of adverse events such as decreased appetite and mood swings associated with methylphenidate patches in contrast to other ADHD medications.

Moore TJ, Cohen MR, Furberg CD. Perspectives On GLP-1 Agents for Diabetes.
www.ismp.org/QuarterWatch/pdfs/2012Q3.pdf
The authors used the Prescription Audit™ (NPA) to describe the utilization of GLP-1 agents in treating diabetes in the face of serious safety concerns. Between June 2011 and June 2012, 1,723 serious adverse drug events were reported for GLP-1 drugs, including pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer and thyroid cancer. During this same period, almost 17 million prescriptions had been dispensed for these products, led by sitagliptin, which accounted for 66% of all GLP-1 drugs.

Moore TJ, Furberg CD, Why reports of serious adverse drug events continue to grow. Institute for Safe Medication Practices, Horsham, PA. Published October 3, 2012. Accessed January 21, 2013.
http://www.ismp.org/quarterwatch/pdfs/2012Q1.pdf
The authors analyzed FDA reports of serious, disabling, and fatal adverse drug events in the United States in 2012, specifically analyzing signals for duloxetine and serious withdrawal symptoms; pioglitazone and reported bladder cancer; aliskiren and angioedema, and rivaroxaban and thromboembolic events. The authors used the IMS National Prescription Audit™ (NPA) to calculate total dispensed outpatient prescriptions in the same time frame.

Moore TJ, Furberg CD, Cohen MR. Finasteride (propecia, proscar) and possibly persistent sexual side effects; methylphenidate patch (daytrana) and product problems; update on anticoagualnts dabigatran (pradaxa) and rivaroxaban (xarelto). Institute for Safe Medication Practices, Horsham, PA. Published January 9, 2013. Accessed January 21, 2013.
http://www.ismp.org/quarterwatch/pdfs/2012Q2.pdf
The authors analyzed FDA reports of serious, disabling, and fatal adverse drug events in the United States in 2012, specifically analyzing signals for persistent sexual side effects reported by men who have taken finasteride for male pattern baldness or for an enlarged prostate, reviewing product problems with the methylphenidate patch used in young children to treat ADHD, and updating coverage of anticoagulant drugs with new perspectives on adverse events reported for dabigatran and rivaroxaban.

Moore TJ, Furberg CD, Cohen MR. QuarterWatch: Monitoring FDA MedWatch reports: Anticoagulants the leading reported drug risk in 2011. Institute for Safe Medication Practices, Horsham, PA. Published May 31, 2012. Accessed Aug 23, 2012.
http://www.ismp.org/quarterwatch/pdfs/2011Q4.pdf
The authors analyzed FDA reports of serious, disabling, and fatal adverse drug events in the United States in 2011 and identified anticoagulants the most frequently reported suspect drugs. The authors used the IMS National Prescription Audit™ (NPA) to calculate total dispensed outpatient prescriptions in the same time frame, noting that 48% of the population was taking a prescription drug in any given month, and an estimated 3.6 billion outpatient prescriptions were dispensed.

Moore TJ, Furberg CD, Cohen MR. QuarterWatch 2011 Quarter 1: Signals for Dabigatran and Metroclopramide. Institute for Safe Medication Practices, Horsham, PA. Published January 12, 2012. Accessed January 17, 2012.
http://www.ismp.org/QuarterWatch/pdfs/2011Q1.pdf
 The authors used the IMS National Prescription Audit™ (NPA) to examine outpatient prescriptions dispensed for two drugs that were associated with adverse events in the 1st quarter of 2011, dabigatran and metroclopramine. These drugs were widely used despite their association with serious risks of bleeding in the elderly (dabigatran) and brain damage (metroclopramine). The authors also used the NPA to identify the five most widely prescribed drugs during the 1st quarter of 2011, and found that all five were generic drugs with well-known risks that had been available for many years.

Moore TJ, Furberg CD, Cohen MR. 2010 Quarter 3 Monitoring MedWatch Reports 5/19/2011 New Signals for Liraglutide, Quetiapine and Varenicline. Institute for Safe Medical Practices.
http://www.ismp.org/quarterwatch/2010Q3.pdf
 The authors used IMS Health’s National Prescription Audit™ (NPA) to describe the number of outpatient dispensed prescriptions for medications commonly used to treat Type 2 Diabetes in 2010. Further, they use QuarterWatch™, an independent publication that monitors all domestic, serious adverse drug events reported to the FDA, to evaluate the rates of adverse events associated with the number of dispensed prescriptions. The authors found an increase irn adverse reports from manufacturers (+33%) but a decrease from healthcare professionals (-17%) in addition to a 1.3% increase in outpatient dispensed prescriptions.

Naslund M, Black L, Eaddy M, Batiste LR. Differences in alpha blocker usage among enlarged prostate patients receiving combination therapy with 5 ARIs. American Journal of Managed Care. 2007;13Suppl1:S17-22.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17295601
The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data to assess the likelihood and timing of alpha blocker discontinuation in patients receiving combination therapy with dutasteride or finasteride plus an alpha blocker. Patients with an enlarged prostate who were taking an alpha blocker and 5-alpha reductase inhibitor in combination discontinued their alpha blocker 20% earlier when taking dutasteride than when taking finasteride.

Nyweide DJ, Weeks WB, Gottlieb DJ, Casalino LP, Fisher ES. Relationship of Primary Care Physicians' Patient Caseload With Measurement of Quality and Cost Performance. JAMA. 2009;302:2440-2450
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19996399
 The authors used the Healthcare Organization Services database maintained by IMS Health to determine whether primary care physicians in the same physician practice collectively see enough Medicare patients annually to detect meaningful differences between practices in ambulatory quality and cost measures. They concluded that relatively few primary care physician practices are large enough to reliably measure 10% relative differences in common measurements of quality and cost performance among fee-for-service Medicare patients.

Ollendorf DA, Lidsky L. Infliximab Drug and Infusion Costs Among Patients with Crohn’s Disease in a Commercially-Insured Setting. American Journal of Therapeutics. 2006;13:502-6.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17122530
The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data to evaluate actual expenditures for infliximab by examining patterns of administration and reimbursement among commercially-insured patients receiving infliximab for Crohn’s Disease (CD). The charged and paid amounts per vial billed averaged $927 and $583 respectively, so the true costs of administering infliximab are likely to be lower than reported for charged amounts.

Ollendorf D, Joyce A, Rucker M. Rate of New-Onset Diabetes Among Patients Treated With Atypical or Conventional Antipsychotic Medications for Schizophrenia. Medscape General Medicine. 2004;6:1-12.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1140712
The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data (formerly known as PharMetrics) to compare the rates of new-onset diabetes mellitus between patients treated for schizophrenia with atypical or conventional antipsychotics. Patients with schizophrenia treated with atypical antipsychotics had a moderately increased risk of diabetes relative to those treated with conventional antipsychotics, as measured by Cox proportional hazard models (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.17, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.06, 1.30).

Ollendorf DA, Massarotti E, Birbara C, Burgess S. Frequency, Predictors, and Economic Impact of Upward Dose Adjustment of Infliximab in Managed Care Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Journal of Managed Care Pharmacy. 2005;11:383-93.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15934797
The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data (formerly known as PharMetrics) to examine dosing patterns and costs among rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients newly treated with infliximab between 2000 and 2002. They found that upward dose adjustment with infliximab was frequent and appeared to occur earlier in the drug therapy in 2002 v. 2000 and that upward dose adjustment was associated with significant increases in drug treatment costs.

Outterson K. The Legal Ecology of Resistance: The Role of Antibiotic Resistance in Pharmaceutical Innovation. Cardozo Law Review. 2010;31:613-678
http://www.cardozolawreview.com/content/31-3/OUTTERSON.31-3.pdf
 The author used MIDAS™ data to supplement an analysis of methods to approach three important policy questions concerning antibiotic resistance: (1) the tension between production of new antibiotics and conservation of existing drugs, (2) the relationship between resistance and innovation, and (3) the policy levers employed in the battle against antibiotic resistance.

Packer C, Stevens A, Cook A, Raftery J. Diffusion of thromboysis for acute myocardial infarction from 1981 to 2000 In England: trend analysis and comparison with need. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care. 2004;20:531-536.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15609806
The authors use MIDAS™ to describe the adoption and take up of thrombolytic agents for acute myocardial infarction since 1980 in England and compare use with the estimated ceiling of need. They found that although there was a rapid initial uptake of thrombolysis in England, usage took 8 years to reach the ceiling of clinical need of 65% of patients with acute myocardial infarction, with many patients missing the opportunity to benefit.

Perfetto EM, Subedi P, Jumadilova Z. Treatment of overactive bladder: a model comparing extended-release formulations of tolterodine and oxybutynin. American Journal of Managed Care. 2005;11(4 Suppl):S150-7.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16161388
The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data (formerly known as PharMetrics) to compare 1-year total healthcare costs for patients with overactive bladder initiating treatment with extended-release formulations of tolterodine and oxybutynin: tolterodine tartrate extended-release capsules (tolterodine ER) v. extended-release oxybutynin chloride (oxybutynin ER). Tolterodine ER users had lower monthly drug and medical costs, and a total average annual cost savings of $204 per patient. Patients with overactive bladder were more likely to remain on original drug treatment taking tolterodine ER v. oxybutynin ER.

Philipson T, Berndt ER, Gottschalk AHB, Sun E. Cost-Benefit Analysis of the FDA: The Case of the Prescription Drug User Fee Acts. Journal of Public Economics. 2008; 92:1306-1325.
The authors used National Sales Perspectives™ (NSP) data to estimate the welfare effects of the Prescription Drug User Fee Acts (PDUFA). They found that PDUFA raised the private surplus of producers by about $7 to $11 billion and raised consumer welfare between $7 to $20 billion; thus the combined social surplus was raised by $14 to $31 billion, which is the equivalent of 140,000 to 310,000 life years.

Prescott JD, Factor S, Pill M, Levi GW. Descriptive analysis of the direct medical costs of multiple sclerosis in 2004 using administrative claims in a large nationwide database. Journal of Managed Care Pharmacy. 2007;13:44-52.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17269836
The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data to: 1) determine the average total and component direct medical costs incurred in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients in 2004 and 2) compare MS treatment costs and cost factors in 2004 with 1995. Pharmacy costs accounted for 65% of total MS-related medical costs in 2004 and 75% of total costs for the subset of MS patients (58%) who receive at least 1 disease-modifying drug. Total annual MS-related treatment costs increased by 35% from 1995 to 2004.

Q - T

Radley D, Finkelstein S, Stafford RS. Off-Label prescribing among office-based physicians. Archives of Internal Medicine. 2006; 166:1021-1026.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16682577
 The authors used the National Disease and Therapeutic Index™ (NDTI) to define prescribing patterns by diagnosis for 160 commonly prescribed drugs. They found that in 2001, there were an estimated 150 million off-label mentions among the sampled medications and that off-label use was most common among cardiac medications and anticonvulsants.

Rajagopalan R, Iyer S, Perez A. Comparison of pioglitazone with other antidiabetic drugs for associated incidence of liver failure: no evidence of increased risk of liver failure with pioglitazone. Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism. 2005;7:161-9.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15715889
The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data (formerly known as PharMetrics) to assess the incidence of liver failure in association with antidiabetic treatment using pioglitazone v. other oral antidiabetic medications. They found no evidence of increased risk of liver failure or hepatitis for patients initiating therapy on pioglitazone, compared to other oral antidiabetic agents.

Rajagopalan R, Rosenson RS, Fernandes AW, Khan M, Murray FT. Association between congestive heart failure and hospitalization in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus receiving treatment with insulin or pioglitazone: a retrospective data analysis. Clinical Therapeutics. 2004;26:1400-10.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15531002
The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data (formerly known as PharMetrics) to assess the congestive heart failure risk in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and to compare the association with CHF in those receiving pioglitazone and those receiving insulin. Pioglitazone therapy was associated with significantly lower incidence rates of CHF and inpatient hospitalization compared with insulin therapy.

Rhea S, Glickman S, Waller A, Williams C, Glickman L. Association of Doxycycline Prescriptions and Tick-Related Emergency Department Visits in North Carolina. Southern Medical Journal. 2011;104:653-8.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21886086
 The authors used the IMS Xponent™ database to compare the seasonal frequency of doxycycline prescriptions with tick-related emergency department (ED) visits in North Carolina, and to determine if doxycycline prescriptions are associated in time with an increase in the number of ED visits for a tick-related patient complaint or a subsequent diagnosis of a tick-borne infection. They found that Doxycycline prescription use did not always correlate well with suspected tick activity in North Carolina. Doxycycline prescription use cannot necessarily be used as a surrogate measure of tick activity for infectious disease surveillance until the reasons for this variability are better understood.

Rittenhouse DR, Casalino LP, Shortell SM, McClellan SR, Gillies RR, Alexander JA, Drum ML. Small and Medium-Size Physician Practices Use Few Patient Centered Medical Home Processes. Health Affairs. 2011, doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2010.1210.
http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/early/2011/06/28/hlthaff.2010.1210.full.pdf html
 The authors used the IMS Healthcare Organization Services (HCOS) database to identify practices of 1 to 19 physicians, at least 60% being adult primary care providers, cardiologists, endocrinologists, and pulmonologists. Lead physicians of said practices were eligible for the National Study of Small and Medium-Sized Physician Practices, a cross sectional telephone survey conducted from July 2007 to March 2009. On average, practices used one-fifth of the patient-centered medical home processes measured. Greater use of these processes was associated with a variety of internal capabilities and external incentives faced by practices, and also was greater among larger practices, hospital owned practices and health maintenance organizations.

   

Ross JS, Jackevicius C, Krumholz HM, Ridgeway J, Montori VM, Alexander GC, Zerzan J, Fan J, Shah ND. State Medicaid Programs Did Not Make Use Of Prior Authorization To Promote Safer Prescribing After Rosiglitazone Warning. Health Affairs. 2012;31:188-98.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22232110
The authors used the IMS Health Xponent™ database to assess prescribing of diabetes medications following the FDA’s May 2007 safety warning regarding rosiglitazone. Though nearly all state Medicaid programs continued to cover rosiglitazone as a preferred drug following the warning, rosiglitazone prescribing in these states nonetheless declined. Still, prescribing rates in these programs was three to five times higher than in programs that did not provide coverage without prior authorization. State Medicaid programs missed important opportunities to promote safer, more effective prescribing in the wake of the 2007 safety warning by making full use of preferred drug lists and prior authorization programs.

Ryan AM, Bishop TF, Shih S, Casalino LP. Small Physician Practices In New York Needed Sustained Help To Realize Gains In Quality From Use Of Electronic Health Records. Health Affairs. 2013; 32: 53-62
http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/32/1/53.full.pdf html
The authors used IMS Health Healthcare Organization Services™ 2011 data set to evaluate the early effects on quality of the Primary Information Project that provides subsidized EHRs (electronic health records) and technical assistance to primary care practices in underserved New York City neighborhoods. Quality of care was not improved if there was only a general participation in the program. Quality of care was only improved if there was a sustained level of exposure (nine or more months) to the program because of better access to EHRs.

Schatz M, Leibman C. Inhaled corticosteroid use and outcomes in pregnancy. Annals of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology. 2005;95:234-8.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16200813
The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data (formerly known as PharMetrics) to examine asthma medication use and asthma-related health care use before and during pregnancy among women age 15-45 with both a pregnancy and asthma claim. They found that for patients using an inhaled corticosteroid before pregnancy, the rate of asthma-related physician visits decreased and the number of emergency room visits was unchanged after pregnancy, whereas physician and emergency room visits increased after pregnancy for patients not using an inhaled corticosteroid before pregnancy.

Scheffler RM, Bowers LG. A new vision for California’s healthcare system: Integrated care with aligned financial incentives. Berkeley Forum. 2013. 
http://berkeleyhealthcareforum.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/A-New-Vision-for-California%E2%80%99s-Healthcare-System.pdf
The authors used the IMS Health National Healthcare Organization Services™ to characterize the size of medical groups in California. More than 40% of physicians practice in medical groups of more than 25 physicians, and 80% of these physicians are in groups of more than 100. Conversely, 35% of physicians in California practice in group of less than 4. Urban areas such as San Francisco and Los Angeles have a greater percentage of large practices than suburban and rural areas. This was part of a comprehensive report on the health care system in California

Schumock GT, Stayner LT, Valuck RJ, Joo MJ, Gibbons RD, Lee TA. Risk of suicide attempt in asthmatic children and young adults prescribed leukotriene-modifying agents: A nested case-control study. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2012;130:368-75.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22698520
The authors used the IMS LifeLink™ Health Plan Claims Database to examine the association between use of leukotriene-modifying agents (LTMAs) and attempted suicide among asthmatic children and young adults. They found that current use of any LTMA was not associated with increased risk of a suicide attempt; in fact, the direction of effect was the opposite (adjusted odd ratio, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.36-1.39). Further research needs to be conducted to more fully understand the association between LTMAs and suicide, particularly in subpopulations.

Schumock GT, Stayner LT, Valuck RJ, Joo MJ, Gibbons RD, Lee TA. Risk of suicide attempt in asthmatic children and young adults prescribed leukotriene-modifying agents: A nested case-control study. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2012;130:368-75.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22698520
The authors used the IMS LifeLink™ Health Plan Claims Database to examine the association between use of leukotriene-modifying agents (LTMAs) and attempted suicide among asthmatic children and young adults. They found that current use of any LTMA was not associated with increased risk of  a suicide attempt; in fact, the direction of effect was the opposite (adjusted odd ratio, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.36-1.39). Further research needs to be conducted to more fully understand the association between LTMAs and suicide, particularly in subpopulations.

Schumock GT, Gibbons RD, Lee TA, Joo MJ, Stayner LT, Valuck RJ. The Association between Leukotriene-Modifying Agents and Spontaneously Reported Suicide. Drug Information Journal. 2012;46:99-106.
http://www.dovepress.com/relationship-between-leukotriene-modifying-agent-prescriptions-dispens-peer-reviewed-article-DHPS
 The authors used the IMS Xponent™ database and data from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System from 1999 to 2009 to examine the association between prescriptions for leukotriene-modifying agents (LTMAs) and completed suicides. They found that rates of reported completed suicides associated with montelukast increased substantially following warnings issued by the FDA.

Schumock GT, Gibbons RD, Lee TA, Joo MJ, Valuck RJ, Stayner LT. Relationship Between Leukotriene-Modifying Agent Prescriptions Dispensed and Rate of Suicide Deaths by County in the US. Drug, Healthcare and Patient Safety. 2011;3:47-52.
http://dovepress.com/relationship-between-leukotriene-modifying-agent-prescriptions-dispens-peer-reviewed-article-DHPS
The authors used the IMS Xponent™ prescriptions database to assess the association between leukotriene receptor-modifying agents (LTMA) prescriptions dispensed and suicide deaths at the county level. The authors found a negative within-county association between the rate of total LTMA prescriptions dispensed and the suicide rate by county. These findings provide preliminary evidence that the association between LTMA and suicide could be different (ie, reduced risk) than that which might be anticipated based on previous warnings issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Seftel AD, Sun P, Swindle R. The Prevalence of Hypertension, Hyperlipidemia, Diabetes Mellitus and Depression among Men with Erectile Dysfunction. Journal of Urology. 2004;171:2341-2345.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15126817
The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data (formerly known as PharMetrics) to quantify the prevalence of diagnosed hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus and depression in male health plan members with erectile dysfunction from 1995 to 2002. Each of the conditions was prevalent among the patients, hypertension (42%) and hyperlipidemia (42%) were the most common.

Shah ND, Montori VM, Krumholz HM, Tu K, Alexander GC, Jackevicius CA. Responding to an FDA warning--Geographic Variation in the Use of Rosiglitazone. N Engl J Med. 2010;363(22):2081-4.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21083379
 The authors used the National Prescription Audit™ and the Xponent™ database to analyze the effect of the rosiglitazone warning on regional prescribing variations. The authors observed a 70% decrease in rosiglitazone following an FDA warning, publication of a meta-analysis and associated media coverage. Additionally, they observed great geographic variation in rosiglitazone use between 2005 and 2009.

Shih YC, Ward JF, Pettaway CA, Xu Y, Matin SF, Davis JW, Thompson BP, Elting LS. Comparative effectiveness, cost, and utilization of radical prostatectomy among young men within managed care insurance plans. Value Health. 2012;15:367-75.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22433769
The authors used the IMS LifeLink™ Health Plan Claims Database to compare utilization, clinical outcomes, and costs between two types of radical postratectomy among young patients. Between 2003 and 2007,  minimally invasive prostatectomies increased from 5.7% to 50.7% of prostatectomies and were associated with fewer complications than  retropubic prostatectomies.  Lower costs of complications appear to have offset higher hospitalization costs of minimally invasive prostatectomy.

Stafford RS, Monti V, Furberg CD, Ma J. Long-term and Short-term Changes in Antihypertensive Prescribing by Office-based Physicians in the U.S. Hypertension. 2006; 48: 213-8.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16785334
The authors used the National Disease and Therapeutic Index™ (NDTI) to describe both long and short-term trends in US antihypertensive prescribing from 1990 through 2004. They found that diuretics ranked among the top 3 antihypertensive drug classes through this time span and that evidence-based clinical recommendations had an impact on prescribing practices, though small.

Stafford RS, Drieling R, Johns R, Ma J. National patterns of calcium use in osteoporosis. Journal of Reproductive Medicine. 2005; 11(Suppl): 885-895.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16422278
 The authors used the National Disease and Therapeutic Index™ (NDTI) to determine whether the recent therapeutic dominance of bisphosphonates in osteoporosis treatment may have led calcium to be neglected as a component of effective management. They found that physician visits for osteoporosis in the US increased 4.5-fold between 1994 and 2004 and that during this time the proportion of visits in which bisphosphonates were prescribed increased from 14% to 81%, while reported calcium use fell from 43% to 23% of visits.

Stafford RS, Drieling RL, Hersh AL. National Trends in Osteoporosis Visits and Osteoporosis Treatment, 1988-2003. Archives of Internal Medicine. 2004;164:1525-1530.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15277283
The authors used the National Disease and Therapeutic Index™ (NDTI) to investigate patterns of pharmacotherapy from 1988-2003 and the impact of new medications on identification and treatment of patients with osteoporosis. They found that new medications for osteoporosis offering improved efficacy and convenient dosing were associated with increased frequency of patient visits and treatment.

Stafford RS, Bartholomew LK, Cushman WC, Cutler JA, Davis BR, Dawson G, Einhorn PT, Furberg CD, Piller LB, Pressel SL, Whelton PK. Impact of the ALLHAT/JNC7 Dissemination Project on Prescribing of Thiazide-Type Diuretic Use Arch Intern Med. 2010;170:851-858.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14709576
 The authors used the National Disease and Therapeutic Index™ (NDTI) and National Prescription Audit™ (NPA) to describe the impact of the ALLHAT/JNC7 Dissemination project on prescribing of thiazide-type diuretics. They found an association between ALLHAT/JNC7 academic detailing activities and increased prescribing of thiazides, with increases highest in counties where academic detailing activity was also highest. However they found no increase in national thiazide-type diuretic use between 2004-2008.

Stempel DA, McLaughlin TP, Stanford RH. Treatment patterns for pediatric asthma prior to and after emergency department events. Pediatric Pulmonology. 2005;40:310-5.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16010682
The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data (formerly known as PharMetrics) to describe the asthma treatment patterns in children aged 1-17 years in the year prior to and 2 months after an emergency department (ED) event. They found that an ED event results in only an incremental and transient increase in inhaled corticosteroid-containing controller treatment.

Suda KJ, Hicks LA, Roberts RM, Hunkler RJ, Danziger LH. A national evaluation of antibiotic expeditures by healthcare setting in the United States, 2009. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2012; Nov 11 [Epub ahead of print]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23148204     
The authors used the IMS Health National Sales Perspectives™ (NSP) to examine systemic antibiotic expenditures in 2009. The majority (61.5%) of expenditures, totaling $10.7 billion, were associated with the outpatient setting, especially from community pharmacies. Inpatient and long-term care settings accounted for 33.6% and 4.9% of expenditures, respectively. Quinolones accounted for the greatest expenditures, followed by penicillins.

Suissa S, Bernatsky S, Hudson M. Antirheumatic drug use and the risk of acute myocardial infarction. Arthritis & Rheumatism. 2006;55:531-6.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16874796
The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data to assess the risk of acute myocardial infarction associated with the use of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and other medications commonly used in rheumatoid arthritis. The use of DMARDs was associated with a reduction in acute myocardial infarction risk among patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Suissa S, Hudson M, Ernst P. Leflunomide use and the risk of interstitial lung disease in rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis & Rheumatism. 2006;54:1435-9.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16645972
 The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data to asses the risk of interstitial lung disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with leflunomide, a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD), between 1998 and 2003. They found that reports of interstitial lung disease associated with leflunomide use were likely the result of the channeling of high-risk patients to leflunomide treatment, particularly those with a history of methotrexate use or preexisting ILD.

Sun L, Klein EY, Laxminarayan R. Seasonality and Temporal Correlation between Community Antibiotic Use and Resistance in the United States. Clin Infect Dis. 2012;55:687-94.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22752512
The authors used the IMS Xponent™ database to study the effects of US antibiotic usage from 1999-2007 on antibiotic resistance, which was measured using data from the Surveillance Network. They found that large-scale usage of antibiotics can generate seasonal patterns of resistance that fluctuate on a short time scale with changes in antibiotic retail sales, suggesting that use of antibiotics in the winter could have a significant effect on resistance. The strong correlation between community use of antibiotics and resistance isolated in the hospital indicates that restrictions imposed at the hospital level are unlikely to be effective unless coordinated with campaigns at the community level.

Sun L, Klein EY, Laxminarayan R. Seasonality and Temporal Correlation between Community Antibiotic Use and Resistance in the United States. Clin Infect Dis. 2012;55:687-94.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22752512
The authors used the IMS Xponent™ database to study the effects of US antibiotic usage from 1999-2007 on antibiotic resistance, which was measured using data from the Surveillance Network. They found that large-scale usage of antibiotics can generate seasonal patterns of resistance that fluctuate on a short time scale with changes in antibiotic retail sales, suggesting that use of antibiotics in the winter could have a significant effect on resistance. The strong correlation between community use of antibiotics and resistance isolated in the hospital indicates that restrictions imposed at the hospital level are unlikely to be effective unless coordinated with campaigns at the community level.

Taub AAL, Kolotilin A, Gibbons RS, Berndt ER. The Diversity of Concentrated Prescribing Behavior: An Application to Antipsychotics. NBER Working Paper No. 16823. Issued in February 2011
http://www.nber.org/papers/w16823
 The authors use IMS Health Xponent™ data to evaluate physicians’ use of atypical antipsychotics. Building on prior work, they construct a model of physician learning and then empirically evaluate several hypotheses. While prescribing behavior was generally quite concentrated, prescribers with greater volumes, psychiatric training, male prescribers, and older prescribers tended to have less concentrated prescribing patterns.

Trusheim MR, Aitken ML, Berndt ER. Characterizing Markets for Biopharmaceutical Innovations: Do Biologics Differ from Small Molecules? Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper 16014, May 2010. Forthcoming, Forum for Health Economics & Policy, 2010.
http://www.nber.org/papers/w16014.pdf
 The authors generated a new database (TABITHA) using information from IMS Health MIDAS™ database, the FDA, the WHO, and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis to examine clinical and commercial characteristics of biologic and small molecule products. They conclude that although therapeutic class composition is a significant determinant of clinical and commercial characteristics, the market dynamics of biologics differ substantially from those of small molecules.

Tsai SA, Stefanick ML, Stafford RS.Trends in Menopausal Hormone Therapy Use of US Office-Based Physicians, 2000-2009. Menopause. April 2011 - Volume 18 - Issue 4 - pp 385-392
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21127439
 The authors used the IMS National Disease and Therapeutic Index™ (NDTI) to describe the number of physician visits in which menopausal hormone therapy was mentioned from 2001 to 2009. Overall, the authors saw a decline in use and an increase of lower dose and vaginal products, reflective of clinical recommendations.

U - Z 

Valuck RJ, Libby AM, Orton HD, Morrato EH, Allen R, Baldessarini RJ. Spillover effects on treatment of adult depression in primary care after FDA advisory on risk of pediatric suicidality with SSRIs. American Journal of Psychiatry. 2007; 164:1198-205.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17671282
 The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data to examine the effects of the FDA public health advisory regarding the risk of suicidality in pediatric patients taking selective SSRIs on the treatment of adult depression in the community. They found that the advisory had a significant spillover effect into treatment of adults with depression, including a lower rate of diagnosed depression, decreased percentage of adults with new depressive episodes, and decreased percentage of depressed adults who did not receive an antidepressant.

Valuck RJ, Libby AM, Sills MR, Giese AA, Allen RR. Antidepressant treatment and risk of suicide attempt by adolescents with major depressive disorder: a propensity-adjusted retrospective cohort study. CNS Drugs. 2004; 18:1119-32.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15581382
 The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data (formerly known as PharMetrics) to examine the potential empirical link between antidepressant treatment and suicide attempts among adolescents aged 12-18 years. They found that antidepressant medication use had no statistically significant effect on the likelihood of suicide attempt after propensity adjustment for treatment allocation and controlling for other factors.

Varadharajan S, Jumadilova Z, Girase P, Ollendorf DA. Economic Impact of Extended-Release Tolterodine Versus Immediate- and Extended-Release Oxybutynin Among Commercially-Insured Persons with Overactive Bladder. The American Journal of Managed Care. 2005;11:S140-9.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16161387
 The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data (formerly known as PharMetrics) to examine levels of persistence and compliance as well as the economic impact of tolterodine ER v. oxybutynin IR or ER among commercially-insured patients with overactive bladder. Use of tolterodine ER resulted in comparable compliance to oxybutynin ER and longer duration of use relative to either form of oxybutynin.

Walton SM, Schumock GT, Lee KV, Alexander GC, Meltzer D, Stafford RS. Prioritizing future research on off-label prescribing: results of a quantitative evaluation. Pharmacotherapy. 2008; 28:1443-1452.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19025425
 The authors used the National Prescription Audit™ (NPA) and Integrated Promotional Services (IPS) to develop a prioritized list of individual drugs for which future research regarding off-label uses is warranted. They identified a high volume of off-label prescribing in the absence of good evidence for a substantial number of drugs, particularly antidepressants, antipsychotics, and anxiolytic-sedatives.

Wilensky J, Fiscella RG, Carlson AM, Morris LS, Walt J. Measurement of persistence and adherence to regimens of IOP-lowering glaucoma medications using pharmacy claims data. American Journal of Ophthalmology. 2006;141:S28-33.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16389058
 The authors used IMS LifeLink™: Health Plan Claims data to determine persistence and adherence of glaucoma patients to therapeutic regimens of prostaglandin/prostamide-class medications to lower intraocular pressure. Overall, patients taking prostaglandin/prostamide medications had a mean adherence rate of 76%.

Wingard JR, Wood CA, Sullivan E, Berger ML, Gerth WC, Mansley EC. Caspofungin versus amphotericin B for candidemia: a pharmacoecomomic analysis. Clinical Therapeutics. 2005;27:960-969.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16117996
The authors used National Sales Perspectives™ (NSP) to examine whether cost savings generated from the reduced rates of impaired renal function observed in a clinical trial would be enough to offset the higher acquisition cost of caspofungin relative to ampho B. They found that based only on differences in drug acquisition cost and renal toxicity, the use of caspofungin instead of ampho B in patients with candidemia may be a cost-saving strategy from a hospital’s perspective.

Yin HS, Parker RM, Wolf MS, Mendelsohn AL, Sanders LM, Vivar KL, Carney K, Cerra ME, Dreyer BP. Health literacy assessment of labeling of pediatric nonprescription medications: Examination of characteristics that may impair parent understanding. Acad Pediatr. 2012 May 10. [Epub ahead of print].
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22579032
The authors used the IMS Heath National Medicine Cabinet™ Database to identify top-selling pediatric nonprescription analgesic, cough/cold, allergy, or gastrointestinal products for the 52 weeks ending October 30, 2009. The labeling and packaging materials for 200 products were reviewed and coded for the presence and format of active ingredient information and dosing instructions. The format and content of labels for nonprescription pediatric liquid medications could be improved to facilitate parent understanding of key medication information.

Yin HS, Wolf MS, Dreyer BP, Sanders LM, Parker RM. Evaluation of Consistency in Dosing Directions and Measuring Devices for Pediatric Nonprescription Liquid Medications. JAMA. 2010;304:2595-602.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21119074
 The authors used the IMS Health Medicine Cabinet™ database to determine the top selling nonprescription products and to assess the clarity and consistency of dosing directions and measuring dose devices at the time the FDA issued guidelines concerning dosage labels. They found top-selling therapies had highly variable and inconsistent measuring devices and instructions.

 
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IMS Annotated Biblography

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