For IVIG, required workers include a registered nurse (RN), a unit clerk, a scheduling clerk and a ward aid. between $1148 million and $2454 million (36 and 42%) with varying modalities of IVIG therapy. If 75% of patients switched to SCIG, the reduced costs reached $1962 million or 56% of total budget. Conclusion This study exhibited that from the health system perspective, rapid drive home-based SCIG was less costly than hospital-based IVIG for immunoglobulin replacement therapy in adult PID patients in the Canadian context. strong class=”kwd-title” Keywords: budget impact model, cost minimisation, IVIG, main immune deficiencies, SCIG Introduction Primary immune deficiencies (PIDs) are a group of chronic disorders that can affect patients at various ages (Shehata em et al /em ., 2010). These disorders include agammaglobulinaemia, hyper-IgG syndrome, common variable immunodeficiency (CVID), transient hypogammaglobulinaemia of infancy and selective immunoglobulin deficiencies (Sorensen & Moore, 2000). Prevalence of PID is usually estimated to be from one in two thousand to one in ten thousand of the general population in the United States (Turvey em VLX1570 et al /em ., 2009). Insufficient main antibody production accounts for the majority of PID, which can result in severe opportunistic infections in affected patients (Sorensen & Moore, 2000). Immunoglobulin replacement therapy has become the treatment of choice for PID patients for several decades (Berger, 2008). Immunoglobulin can be administered by intravenous or subcutaneous infusion. Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) VLX1570 infusion is typically performed on a monthly basis in an outpatient setting (hospital), whereas subcutaneous immunoglobulin (SCIG) infusion can be self-administered one or more times a week by the patient at home (Berger, 2004; Lemieux em et al /em ., 2005). Comparable efficacy in preventing infections has been reported between SCIG and IVIG with no difference in severity and VLX1570 length of infections (Chapel em et al /em ., 2000; Shehata em et al /em ., 2010). Although these two treatment options are associated with comparable efficacy and security profiles, (Chapel em et al /em ., 2000) switching from hospital-based IVIG to home-based SCIG was shown to significantly improve health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of adult PID patients (Gardulf em et al /em ., 2004; Kittner em et al /em ., 2006; Nicolay em et al /em ., 2006). Among the SCIG administration options, a recent US study of a populace of PID patients referred to an immunotherapy medical center reported that 71% of patients selected the quick push method rather than pump infusion administration (Shapiro, 2010). The quick push method was chosen less often by young children (2C10 years of age) but was the preferred method in teenagers and adults (Misbah em et al /em ., 2009; Shapiro, 2010). Healthcare resource utilisation differs markedly between SCIG and IVIG options. European economic studies performed in Sweden (Gardulf em et al /em ., 1995), Germany (Hogy em et al /em ., 2005), the UK (Liu em et al /em Rabbit polyclonal to PIWIL2 ., 2005) and France (Haddad em et al /em ., 2006; Beaute em et al /em ., 2010) reported that home-based SCIG was 25C75% less costly for the healthcare system than hospital-based IVIG. A Canadian study reported a cost difference of 10% between the two options (Membe em et al /em ., 2008). In this study, immunoglobulin product created 85% of the total cost of IVIG therapy and the same cost was applied to both IVIG and SCIG therapies (Membe em et al /em ., 2008). In studies from France and UK (Beaute em et al /em ., 2010; Liu em et al /em ., 2005), IVIG and SCIG costs were also comparative but represented a smaller part, 70 and 58%, respectively, of total costs of therapy. In studies from Germany and Sweden, the rationale to include immunoglobulin cost was supported by the lower cost of SCIG compared with IVIG in these countries (Hogy em et al /em ., 2005; Gardulf em et al /em ., 1995). The objective of this study was to explore specifically the economic benefits of the quick drive method for SCIG.