The effect of pharmacogenetic profiling with a clinical decision support tool on healthcare resource utilization and estimated costs in the elderly exposed to polypharmacy

Objective:

To compare healthcare resource utilization (HRU) and clinical decision-making for elderly patients based on cytochrome P450 (CYP) pharmacogenetic testing and the use of a comprehensive medication management clinical decision support tool (CDST), to a cohort of similar non-tested patients.

Methods:

An observational study compared a prospective cohort of patients ≥65 years subjected to pharmacogenetic testing to a propensity score (PS) matched historical cohort of untested patients in a claims database. Patients had a prescribed medication or dose change of at least one of 61 oral drugs or combinations of ≥3 drugs at enrollment. Four-month HRU outcomes examined included hospitalizations, emergency department (ED) and outpatient visits and provider acceptance of test recommendations. Costs were estimated using national data sources.

Results:

There were 205 tested patients PS matched to 820 untested patients. Hospitalization rate was 9.8% in the tested group vs 16.1% in the untested group (RR?=?0.61, 95% CI?=?0.39–0.95, p?=?0.027), ED visit rate was 4.4% in the tested group vs 15.4% in the untested group (RR?=?0.29, 95% CI?=?0.15–0.55, p?=?0.0002) and outpatient visit rate was 71.7% in the tested group vs 36.5% in the untested group (RR?=?1.97, 95% CI?=?1.74–2.23, p?p?Conclusion:

Patients CYP DNA tested and treated according to the personalized prescribing system had a significant decrease in hospitalizations and emergency department visits, resulting in potential cost savings. Providers had a high satisfaction rate with the clinical utility of the system and followed recommendations when appropriate.