TY - JOUR
T1 - Removing barriers to appropriate migraine treatment
T2 - Formulary limitations and triptan package size
AU - Silberstein, Stephen D.
AU - Dodick, David
AU - Kesslick, Jim
PY - 2005
Y1 - 2005
N2 - The main goals in the pharmacologic management of migraine headache are to avert or relieve debilitating pain, prevent escalating acute medication use, and improve day-to-day functioning. This review will examine the evidence supporting the early use of acute medication, usually when pain is mild, to enhance patient outcomes. We will also discuss imposed quantity limits as a practical impediment to the implementation of this strategy in the managed care setting, and will identify strategies for overcoming this barrier to effective care. Quantity limits imposed on triptan therapy by health plans can hinder the optimal acute treatment of migraine. A standard triptan quantity limit sufficient to permit early migraine treatment and a movement by manufacturers to provide blister packs consistent with a standard quantity limit should reduce patients costs, permit brand mobility when appropriate, and bolster long-term cost effectiveness by removing an important impediment to the use of triptans when they are most effective, early in the migraine attack when pain is often still mild.
AB - The main goals in the pharmacologic management of migraine headache are to avert or relieve debilitating pain, prevent escalating acute medication use, and improve day-to-day functioning. This review will examine the evidence supporting the early use of acute medication, usually when pain is mild, to enhance patient outcomes. We will also discuss imposed quantity limits as a practical impediment to the implementation of this strategy in the managed care setting, and will identify strategies for overcoming this barrier to effective care. Quantity limits imposed on triptan therapy by health plans can hinder the optimal acute treatment of migraine. A standard triptan quantity limit sufficient to permit early migraine treatment and a movement by manufacturers to provide blister packs consistent with a standard quantity limit should reduce patients costs, permit brand mobility when appropriate, and bolster long-term cost effectiveness by removing an important impediment to the use of triptans when they are most effective, early in the migraine attack when pain is often still mild.
KW - Formulary
KW - Managed care
KW - Migraine
KW - Pharmacoeconomics
KW - Triptans
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U2 - 10.1111/j.1526-4610.2005.00250.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1526-4610.2005.00250.x
M3 - Review article
C2 - 16178957
AN - SCOPUS:33644873543
SN - 0017-8748
VL - 45
SP - 1250
EP - 1254
JO - Headache
JF - Headache
IS - 9
ER -