Helsana Drug Report: Spitex patients exposed to significant medication risks
Zurich (ots)
In 2019, medication costs in Switzerland totalled approximately CHF 7.6 billion. The front runners remained cancer and immune system drugs, followed by nervous system medications and metabolic preparations. The use of biosimilars (generic preparations) offers significant savings potential that unfortunately remains almost completely unexploited. In an additional analysis, Helsana shed light on various problem areas relating to the medication of Spitex patients. These patients take a large number of different medications, which represents a significant risk factor in itself.
The latest Helsana Drug Report shows that the medication costs borne by basic insurance amounted to CHF 7.6 billion in 2019, remaining stable in relation to 2018. Few new medications were launched on the market, and patent expiries and the price review carried out by the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) resulted in lower costs, despite only one-third of medications being reviewed each year. Costs, however, continue to remain stable overall. New, highly priced medications result in huge and rapid cost growth, as demonstrated by the development in cancer drugs (+9.5%). The largest increase in sales (CHF +37.0 million) was seen for a medication used in cancer treatment (Keytruda). While the product has received several indication extensions since its approval in 2017, these have so far not resulted in a significant price reduction.
Only 13 new active substances - cancer drugs and immunosuppressants - were launched on the market in 2019, of which just two are seen as potential innovations. There is great savings potential where generic preparations of biological pharmaceuticals are concerned. Even ten years after the first introduction of a biosimilar, the huge savings potential in the Swiss healthcare system remains almost completely unexploited. This potential increases every year as patent expiries result in ever cheaper generics arriving on the market. Significant reforms such as the introduction of price-independent margins (fixed margins) or equivalence between biosimilars and generics would create an incentive to prescribe them.
Spitex patients taking dangerous drug cocktail
Driven by the wish of many to spend their old age at home, more and more people are taking advantage of Spitex services. While data on the medication of vulnerable patient groups in Switzerland are not widely available, an analysis has been carried out using Helsana data. Since 2013, the use of medication by Spitex patients has increased dramatically (+ 47.7%). On average, 16 preparations are purchased in parallel (nursing home residents: nine preparations), despite the concomitant use of five or more active substances being considered problematic (polypharmacy). In 2019, half of Spitex patients (47.8%) had a long-term use of a potentially inappropriate medication (PIM). This involved sleep-inducing agents such as benzodiazepines. PIMs have been shown to be associated with adverse drug reactions, an increased hospitalisation risk and, in turn, additional costs and increased mortality.
It is vital that a periodic and systematic review of prescribed medicines be carried out, and billing data from health insurers can help this regard and provide medical professionals with support. Spitex could potentially take on a supporting role in this context in the future.
Read more at: www.helsana.ch/drug-report
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We are committed to the health and quality of life of our customers. We provide advice and coordinate with the objective of offering the best quality of care in every health situation. With innovative services and products we offer individual support for a healthy lifestyle. As a shaper of the Swiss healthcare system, we therefore work to ensure a sustainable, high quality, competitively organised and customer-friendly healthcare system. Helsana Insurance Company Ltd is not listed on the stock exchange, and is organised as a holding company. With over CHF 6.7 billion in earned premiums, the company is one of the leading providers in the Swiss insurance market with a workforce of more than 3,300 employees in Switzerland. With a wide range of products and services in the areas of basic, supplementary and accident insurance, as well as daily sickness benefits, Helsana protects over two million people against the financial consequences of illness, accidents, maternity and long-term care in old age. We develop insurance solutions to mitigate the economic consequences of illness or accident-related occupational absences for more than 60,000 companies and associations with a total of approximately 700,000 insured persons.
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