Bausch Health announces findings from descriptive analysis of hospital database

Bausch Health Companies and its gastroenterology business, Salix Pharmaceuticals, announced findings from a descriptive analysis of a hospital database showing that the absence of an overt hepatic encephalopathy-specific diagnosis code may have resulted in increased OHE-related length of stay and hospitalization-related costs due to OHE rate underestimation. The analysis of hospital data showed that OHE hospitalizations identified using in-hospital Xifaxan or lactulose use combined with a diagnosis for altered mental status, unspecified encephalopathy, or cirrhosis, had a mean hospital billing charge 2.5 times higher and mean length of stay 2.0 times longer than solely relying on OHE as a primary diagnosis. Findings from the analysis, “Systematic undercounting of overt hepatic encephalopathy hospitalizations identified by using hospital-administered medication data,” were presented today at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases The Liver Meeting. This analysis identified OHE hospitalizations using two definitions: OHE as a primary diagnosis, or in-hospital rifaximin or lactulose use combined with a diagnosis for altered mental status, unspecified encephalopathy, or cirrhosis. There were approximately 3.0 times additional OHE hospitalizations identified based on definition 2 compared to definition 1. OHE hospitalizations based on definition 2 had a mean hospital billing charge 2.5 times higher and a mean LOS 2.0 times longer than those based on definition 1. Patients admitted to the hospital under definition 2 received in-hospital first dose treatment with rifaximin within an average of 2.6 days, compared to patients admitted under definition 1 who received treatment within an average of 0.7 days. Findings from this study highlight that the burden of OHE has been likely underestimated. OHE hospitalizations were identified in the PINC AI Healthcare Database with 33,127 patients being treated for OHE versus 99,217 OHE hospitalizations classified as in-hospital rifaximin/lactulose use combined with a diagnosis for altered mental status, unspecified encephalopathy, or cirrhosis. Hospitalizations with a diagnosis for other rifaximin indications were excluded.