Pharmaceutical Cost Analysis of Diabetes Mellitus Using Clinical Risk Groups in Valencian Community

Abstract

Metabolic agents have the highest expense (130 million Euros per year in the Valencian Community) among the top five therapeutic categories of drugs for adults aged 18 and over. Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is the main cause of this. Moreover, diabetes is a chronic illness that requires continuous medical care and patient self-management education to prevent acute complications and to reduce the risk of long-term complications. Clinical Risk Groups (CRGs) are a tool claimed as valid for diabetes patient management. In this context we use this methodology to conduct a pharmaceutical cost analysis of diabetes in an Eastern Spanish region where the prevalence reaches approximately 8 %.