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High-dose flu vaccine proves cost-effective

Administering a high-dose influenza vaccine as opposed to standard-dose reduced health care expenditures, according to trial results presented at the American Geriatrics Society Annual Scientific Meeting.

“In a recently completed cluster-randomized trial, we demonstrated that a more immunogenic high-dose trivalent influenza vaccine reduced the number of long-stay nursing home residents hospitalized in facilities offering high-dose as compared to those in facilities offering standard-dose flu vaccine,” Theresa I. Shireman, PhD, RPh, professor of health services, policy and practice, at Brown University School of Public Health, and colleagues wrote in an abstract. “[Here] we expand those findings by considering the relative direct medical care costs.”

Researchers examined long-stay nursing home residents’ Medicare Parts A, B, and D fee-for-services claims for two influenza seasons, conducting both a pilot and a full trial. The pilot lasted from 2012 to 2013 and included data from 39 nursing homes. The full trial occurred from 2013 to 2014 and involved 823 nursing homes. Researchers calculated the sum of Medicare expenditures for all services taking place from Nov. 1 through May 31. After adjusting for clustering of residents within nursing homes, person-time, and pre-specified covariates using generalized linear models, researchers compared these expenditures between residents who had been administered a high-dose vs. standard dose vaccine. They obtained the costs of high-dose vaccine ($31.82) and standard-dose vaccine ($12.04) from the CMS fee schedule. The incremental cost-benefit of high-dose vs. standard-dose vaccines from a Medicare payer perspective was analyzed.

Researchers found that unadjusted total expenditures were $464 lower within the nursing homes that administered the high-dose vaccine — $11,003 for standard-dose vs. $10,539 for high-dose (P < .001). The net benefit was $412 per resident.

“The use of high-dose influenza vaccine in long-stay nursing home residents significantly reduced total health care expenditures generating a net cost benefit,” the researchers concluded. – by Melissa J. Webb

Reference:

Shireman TI, et al. PA-P17. Presented at: American Geriatrics Society Annual Scientific Meeting; May 3-5, 2018; Orlando, Florida.

Disclosures: Healio Internal Medicine could not confirm relevant disclosures.