System and method for early identification of safety concerns of new drugs

• US 8,285,562 B2
• Filed: 06/16/2011
• Issued: 10/09/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Optuminsight, Inc. (UnitedHealth Group Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Ingenix Incorporated (UnitedHealth Group Incorporated)
• Inventors: Walker, Alexander M.
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, HIEP VAN
• Application Number:
  US13/162,033
• Publication Number:
  US 20110246228A1
• Time in Patent Office: 481 Days
• Field of Search: 705/2
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/20 for electronic clinical trials or questionnaires
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/10 relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/70 for mining of medical data, e.g. analysing previous cases of other patients
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 70/40 relating to drugs, e.g. their side effects or intended usage

Abstract

A computer-implemented system and method for administering a drug registry database generates a display of a plurality of new drug/comparator drug pairings, wherein each new drug is added to the database when a threshold number of healthcare claims for the new drug have been received. Upon receiving a selection of a new drug/comparator drug pairing, and filter parameters input by a user, an analysis engine searches the healthcare claims stored in the database to identify a first and second group of patients satisfying the filter parameters input by the user; wherein the first group includes patients with claim data indicating use of the new drug and the second group includes patients with claim data indicating use of the comparator drug. The analysis engine further identifies a comparative occurrence of one or more existing medical conditions or new medical conditions in the first and second groups of patients and calculates a probability value indicating a relative likelihood that a patient taking the new drug will have each of the one or more new or existing medical conditions in comparison to a likelihood that a patient taking the comparator drug will have each of the one or more new or existing medical conditions. A user interface displays each new or existing medical condition and the probability value for the new drug and the comparator drug in accordance with one or more report parameters entered by the user.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented system for administering a drug registry database, comprising:

an electronic database containing at least a plurality of healthcare claims of a plurality of patients and a plurality of new drug/comparator drug pairings;

an electronic user interface configured to

display the plurality of new drug/comparator drug pairings, wherein each new drug is added to the database when a threshold number of healthcare claims for the new drug have been received and wherein each comparator drug paired with a new drug that has substantially similar medical indications as the new drug; and

receive a selection of the new drug/comparator drug pairing, and filter parameters input by a user; and

a computer-implemented analysis engine configured to

search the healthcare claims stored in the database to identify a first and second group of patients satisfying the filter parameters input by the user, wherein the first group includes patients with claim data indicating use of the new drug and the second group includes patients with claim data indicating use of the comparator drug;

identify a comparative occurrence of one or more existing medical conditions or new medical conditions in the first and second groups of patients; and

calculate a probability value indicating a relative likelihood that a patient taking the new drug will have each of the one or more new or existing medical conditions in comparison to a likelihood that a patient taking the comparator drug will have each of the one or more new or existing medical conditions;

wherein the electronic user interface displays each new or existing medical condition and the probability value for the new drug and the comparator drug in accordance with one or more report parameters entered by the user.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the display generated by the electronic user interface includes demographic characteristics, prevalence of diagnosis, prevalence of procedures, prevalence of drug class, or healthcare utilization.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the filter parameters include one or more diagnosis codes, procedure codes, drug categories, or demographic characteristics.

4. A computer-implemented method for administering a drug registry database, comprising:

storing a plurality of healthcare claims for a plurality of patients on a computing device and a plurality of new drug/comparator drug pairings;

displaying on an electronic user interface a plurality of new drug/comparator drug pairings, wherein each new drug is added to the database when a threshold number of healthcare claims for the new drug have been received and wherein each comparator drug paired with a new drug that has substantially similar medical indications as the new drug;

receiving a selection of the new drug/comparator drug pairing, and filter parameters input by a user;

searching by a computer-implemented analysis engine the healthcare claims stored in the database to identify a first and second group of patients satisfying the filter parameters input by the user;

wherein the first group includes patients with claim data indicating use of the new drug and the second group includes patients with claim data indicating use of the comparator drug;

identifying a comparative occurrence of one or more existing medical conditions or new medical conditions in the first and second groups of patients;

calculating a probability value indicating a relative likelihood that a patient taking the new drug will have each of the one or more new or existing medical conditions in comparison to a likelihood that a patient taking the comparator drug will have each of the one or more new or existing medical conditions; and

displaying each new or existing medical condition and the probability value for the new drug and the comparator drug in accordance with one or more report parameters entered by the user.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the display

generated by the electronic user interface includes demographic characteristics, prevalence of diagnosis, prevalence of procedures, prevalence of drug class, or healthcare utilization.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein the filter parameters include one or more diagnosis codes, procedure codes, drug categories, or demographic characteristics.