Study: Decreases seen in vaginal estrogen-related claims, prescribers, and beneficiaries

In this video, Alexandra Tabakin, MD, gives an overview of the Urogynecology paper “Vaginal Estrogen Prescribing and Cost Trends Among Medicare Part D Beneficiaries.” Tabakin is a fellow in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Great Neck, New York.

Transcription:

Please provide an overview of this study and its results.

This study was a claims-based analysis using the Medicare Part D Spending and Prescriber Datasets from 2016 to 2020. We evaluated prescribing cost trends of 4 low-dose vaginal estrogen products, including Estrace, Estring, Yuvafem, and Vagifem. We found that during the 5-year study period, the total number of claims for vaginal estrogen, the number of prescribers, and the number of beneficiaries decreased. The number of beneficiaries actually decreased by over 50%. Conversely, spending per vaginal estrogen claim and cost per beneficiary increased, and these findings are surprising given the aging population coupled with growing safety data and support from national organizations on the safety of vaginal estrogen.

This transcription was edited for clarity.