Krentz Hartmut, Campbell Shayna, Gill John
1 Southern Alberta Clinic, Calgary, Canada.
2 Department of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
J Int Assoc Provid AIDS Care. 2019 Jan-Dec;18:2325958218822304. doi: 10.1177/2325958218822304.
The use of lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART) results in increased costs of care; the ability to finance and control sustained costs of ART needs to be discussed.
The Southern Alberta Clinic initiated a practical cost savings approach that switched select patients from a branded ART to a less expensive generic variation. Our approach surveyed physicians and patients on their acceptance of switching and then launched a program asking patients if they would switch to generic variations for cost control purposes.
Our early findings found >50% of patients approached agreed to switch. We found no evidence of increased risk of viral breakthrough, resistance, side effects, or displeasure with generic drugs. Measured cost savings in the first year were >$1.1 million with annual projected savings of between $4.3 million and $2.6 million (in 2017 Cdn$).
Our approach can provide an option for controlling costs of HIV care without compromising quality.
终身抗逆转录病毒疗法（ART）的使用导致护理成本增加；需要讨论为抗逆转录病毒疗法的持续成本提供资金和控制的能力。
南艾伯塔诊所启动了一种切实可行的成本节约方法，将部分患者从品牌抗逆转录病毒药物转换为成本较低的仿制药。我们的方法对医生和患者进行了关于他们对转换的接受度的调查，然后启动了一个项目，询问患者是否会为了成本控制目的而转换为仿制药。
我们的早期发现表明，超过50%的受访患者同意转换。我们没有发现病毒突破、耐药性、副作用增加或对仿制药不满的证据。第一年节省的成本超过110万美元，预计每年节省430万至260万美元（以2017年加元计算）。
我们的方法可以提供一种在不影响质量的情况下控制艾滋病毒护理成本的选择。
