Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33433804›Full record

ArticleDigestive diseases and sciences2021

Price Is Right: Exploring Prescription Drug Coverage Barriers for Irritable Bowel Syndrome Using Threshold Pricing Analysis.

Eric D Shah, Lin Chang, Anthony Lembo, Kyle Staller, Michael A Curley, William D Chey

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Digestive diseases and sciences, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 26% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Heartburn Relief Is the Major Unmet Need for Drug Development in Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease: Threshold Value Analysis.Clinical gastroenterology and hepatology : the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association · 2025
    Article
  2. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.

Eric D ShahCenter for Gastrointestinal Motility, Esophageal, and Swallowing Disorders, Section of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, One Medical Center Drive, Lebanon, NH, 03766, USA. eric.d.shah@hitchcock.org.ORCID 0000-0003-3611-8628
Lin ChangVatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Anthony LemboDigestive Disease Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA.
Kyle StallerDivision of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Michael A CurleyCenter for Gastrointestinal Motility, Esophageal, and Swallowing Disorders, Section of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, One Medical Center Drive, Lebanon, NH, 03766, USA.
William D CheyDivision of Gastroenterology, Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Dartmouth College · USBeth Israel Deaconess Medical Center · USMassachusetts General Hospital · USMichigan Medicine · USUniversity of California, Los Angeles · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPrescription drug costs exert profound effects on commercial insurance coverage and access to effective therapy.

aimsWe aimed to assess threshold pricing to achieve budget neutrality of FDA-approved drugs treating irritable bowel syndrome from an insurance perspective, based on cost-savings resulting in decreased healthcare utilization through effective disease management.

methodsWe constructed a decision-analytic model from an insurance perspective to assess the budget impact of IBS prescription drugs under usual insurance coverage levels in practice: (1) unrestricted drug access or (2) step therapy in a primary care population of middle-age, care-seeking IBS patients. Budget-neutral drug prices were then calculated which resulted in $0 budget impact to insurers with a short-term, one-year time horizon.

resultsIf used according to FDA labeling, IBS-D drugs cost between $4778 and $16,844 per year and IBS-C drugs cost between $4319 and $4955 per year. These drug costs often exceed insurance expenditures of $6999 for IBS-D and $3929 for IBS-C if left untreated. Therefore, for drugs to have $0 budget impact to insurers, their prices would need to be discounted 36.7-74.2% for IBS-D drugs and 59.3-82.5% for IBS-C. IBS drugs are already priced to support step therapy "failing one of several common, inexpensive IBS treatments with a responder rate > 30-40%," reflecting the subpopulation with more severe disease and greater healthcare costs.

conclusionsBroader prescription drug coverage for patients failing common, inexpensive IBS treatments to which at least 30-40% of patients would typically respond appears warranted to enable gastroenterologists to offer personalized approaches targeting specific mechanisms of this heterogeneous disease.

Indexed as

Drug CostsClinical Decision-MakingCost-Benefit AnalysisDecision Support TechniquesDrug ApprovalHumansInsurance CoverageInsurance, Pharmaceutical ServicesIrritable Bowel SyndromeModels, EconomicPrescription DrugsUnited StatesUnited States Food and Drug AdministrationPrescription DrugsCost analysisCost-effectivenessDecision analysisDrug pricingInsurance coverageMonte CarloPrior authorization

Identifiers

PMID33433804
OpenAlexW3120114380

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.