Traditionally, migraine is thought of as an issue of lost productivity, but there is evidence that there are direct costs on the medical claims side, said Neil Goldfarb, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Philadelphia Business Group on Health.
Traditionally, migraine is thought of as an issue of lost productivity, but there is evidence that there are direct costs on the medical claims side, said Neil Goldfarb, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Philadelphia Business Group on Health.
Transcript
How are employers managing their employees who have migraines that might result in presenteeism or absenteeism?
So, historically, employers have not paid very much attention to migraine. They don’t see it a lot in their direct costs. It’s actually there in direct costs. We just completed a study that shows that migraineurs do cost significantly more on the medical claims side than non-migraineurs. But it’s traditionally thought of as a lost-productivity issue—absence from the job or not being able to do the full days’ job, which is call presenteeism.
With a new class of migraine preventive drugs that are not inexpensive, I think there is some renewed employer interest in at least knowing how many migraineurs do we have, what might the cost be to us in the future? So, we are doing a lot of education of employers on how to identify the migraineurs, because migraine is actually highly underdiagnosed. And so, if you look at your claims data, you might say, “I have 2% or 3% migraine rate,” when we know that the truth is for younger females the migraine rate could be 15% to 20%.
So, employers need to look at their data differently. And also need to get, I think, a little bit more invested in: how are we actually going to measure the indirect costs of the lost productivity? Most employers I talk to say, “We know lost productivity is important. W either don’t believe the measures are valid or we don’t know how to implement the measures. Or my [chief financial officer] is not asking for that information.”
So, there’s a tremendous amount that has to change—not just for migraine but for other conditions—to say, “Lost productivity is a truly important cost that needs to be managed.”
Examining Low-Value Cancer Care Trends Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
April 25th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the April 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on the rates of low-value cancer care services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Listen
Males With Hemophilia A Report Physical, Mental Burdens of Disease Regardless of Severity
April 25th 2024Self-reported data from adult and pediatric males with hemophilia A show that burden of the disease persists regardless of severity, highlighting a need for improved prophylactic treatment.
Read More
Empowering Community Health Through Wellness and Faith
April 23rd 2024To help celebrate and recognize National Minority Health Month, we are bringing you a special month-long podcast series with our Strategic Alliance Partner, UPMC Health Plan. In the third episode, Camille Clarke-Smith, EdD, MS, CHES, CPT, discusses approaching community health holistically through spiritual and community engagement.
Listen
What We’re Reading: FDA Approves UTI Antibiotic; Ozempic, Wegovy Price Investigation; US Births Fall
April 25th 2024The FDA recently approved an antibiotic for the treatment of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in women; a Senate committee recently launched an investigation into the prices of Novo Nordisk’s diabetes and weight loss drugs; US births fell last year, resuming a national slide after a previous increase during the pandemic.
Read More
HOPE-CAT Can Identify Maternal Cardiovascular Risk 2 Months Earlier Than Doctors, Study Says
April 25th 2024In a retrospective study, the machine learning tool was able to screen for potential risks of cardiovascular disease nearly 60 days before the patient's medical record showed any signs of a related condition or before they were officially diagnosed or treated for it.
Read More