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D D Remund

Publications and source records attributed to D D Remund.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

A comparison of antihypertensive medication utilization before and after guideline changes using the Department of Defense Prescription Database.

OBJECTIVE: To determine changes in the proportion of antihypertensive medication utilization, distributed by medication classes, associated with the Fifth Report of the Joint National Committee (JNC V) guideline changes and the Department of Defense Pharmacoeconomic Center's recommendations to follow JNC V guidelines in presumed newly treated hypertensive patients. DESIGN: A 43-month, longitudinal, retrospective analysis using data from the Department of Defense Uniformed Services Prescription Database. SETTING: Seven outpatient US military sites. PATIENTS: Eligible patients (n = 7277) included those from seven military sites, aged 20-49 years, who were: (1) active-duty members of the US Armed Forces, (2) active-duty members' family members, (3) retired members of the US Armed Forces, and (4) US Armed Forces retired members' family members. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Proportion of antihypertensive medication utilization, distributed by medication class over the 43-month study period. METHODOLOGY: Segmented time series analysis was used for each of the following four medication classes: angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, beta-blockers, calcium-channel blockers, and diuretics. RESULTS: Segmented time series analyses revealed no significant differences in utilization of the four medication classes that corresponded to published guidelines outlining initial antihypertensive therapy. CONCLUSIONS: It appeared that JNC V guidelines and recommendations of the Pharmacoeconomic Center to follow JNC V had little effect on the utilization of prescription medication classes studied.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

A US military perspective.

This paper discusses lipid therapy decision-making at the population level within the United States (US) Military Health Services System. The US Military Health Services System serves approximately 8.2 million beneficiaries fairly representative of the general population. Of its $680 million annual pharmacy expenditure, $45-$50 million is spent on lipid-lowering drugs. The military Medical Treatment Facilities (MTF) carry a Tri-Service Drug Formulary list, which serves as a bare minimum to which individual facilities may add other agents. The Department of Defense Pharmacoeconomic Center (PEC) performs cost-effectiveness analyses, establishes the Tri-Service Drug Formulary list and the National Mail Order Pharmacy formulary list, and provides drug treatment guidelines. Hyperlipidemia treatment guidelines published by the Pharmacoeconomic Center in 1995, which recommend the use of niacin, colestipol, and pravastatin, are currently under revision to take into consideration new drugs and new information in the field of lipid-lowering therapies. Future changes to the MTF outpatient formulary management may include the introduction of a Basic Core List of essential agents and a Master Pharmaceutical Agent List comprising the only drugs from which facilities may choose to add to their Basic Core List. These changes are designed to standardize drug availability across military facilities to leverage market share for lower drug prices.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1988

Collaboration needed to bolster home care.

To survive financially and better meet the needs of the elderly, hospitals must take the lead and collaborate with community leaders to enhance home healthcare, which can help the elderly maintain their independence and prevent institutionalization. Informal home healthcare is provided mostly by women, primarily wives, daughters, and daughters-in-law. These care givers often take the elderly person into their own homes, which can increase tension and conflicts, crowd the home, and propagate adverse perceptions by the spouse or children. Many care givers quit their jobs, thereby forfeiting income and relinquishing the mental stimulation of co-workers. Care givers who remain employed sacrifice their free time, family time, and other social opportunities. Other factors that influence the degree of stress and burden on the care giver include the type, extent, and duration of care needs; the location of home care; use of formal services; and the care giver's age, health status, and relationship to the elderly patient. Without help from formal home care agencies and local support groups, informal care giving at home may diminish rapidly due to physical and emotional exhaustion, sometimes resulting in abuse of the elderly patient. Government intervention is necessary if informal home care is to continue as a viable source of long-term care. In addition, local community medical societies must develop a team approach involving physicians, social workers, and nurses to adequately supplement home care givers or help single homebound elderly. Hospital administrators must work with community leaders to implement formal networks of home care services, such as respite care, adult day care, meals on wheels, and nursing care.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Patterns of antihypertensive use among patients in the US Department of Defense database initially prescribed an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or calcium channel blocker.

The US Department of Defense recently assembled electronic records of outpatient prescriptions dispensed through the Uniformed Services Prescription Database Project (USPDP) going back to 1990. The objectives of this portion of a larger study were: (1) to examine longitudinally the patterns of antihypertensive drug use during the first year of therapy in patients whose initial therapy was with an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or a calcium channel blocker (CCB); (2) to determine continuous and noncontinuous users of antihypertensive drugs; and (3) to estimate the direct medication costs for each pattern of medication use. Filtering criteria for patient and prescription identification were developed, because the USPDP contains no records of confirmatory diagnoses of hypertension. Once data filters were implemented, information for 771 patients was analyzed. An ACE inhibitor was the initial therapy for 328 patients, accounting for 1935 antihypertensive medication prescription fills, and a CCB was the initial therapy for 443 patients, accounting for 2459 fills (including refills). Slightly more than half of the patients (n = 401, 52.0%) were classified as continuous users (> or = 80% medication-possession ratio [supply of medication in days divided by the number of days in the 12-month study period]). In the first year, 177 of these continuous users (44.1%) had no change in therapy in the first year, 49 (12.2%) had an increase in dose, 8 (2.0%) had a decrease in dose, 15 (3.7%) had a change to a different therapeutic class of antihypertensive medication, 14 (3.5%) were changed to a different medication in the same therapeutic class, 20 (5.0%) had a new medication added to the regimen, and 118 (29.4%) had complex regimens involving more than one change. For continuous users, the mean medication supply in days was 354.6, and the average time before a medication change was 152.1 days for those continuous users who had one change in therapy. The overall average wholesale price (AWP) and average manufacturer price (AMP) for continuous users during 1 year of therapy were $471.31 and $378.51, respectively. For those patients whose therapy was changed to an ACE inhibitor/CCB combination and who were continuous users, the average AWP was $598.47 per year ($492.05 AMP). Once the change from monotherapy to an ACE inhibitor/CCB combination occurred in continuous users, AWP costs per member per month increased by approximately $22.00 ($18.00 AMP). Over half of the patients whose initial therapy was an ACE inhibitor or CCB had at least one change in their first year of therapy. Research into the reasons for these changes and their outcomes is needed.

Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors↗