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Echosens Presents Research at 2020 AASLD Liver Meeting

November 17, 2020

 

Documentation for Payers on Cost Effectiveness of FibroScan Screening for Detecting, Monitoring Fatty Liver Disease

WALTHAM, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Echosens, a high-technology company offering the FibroScan family of products, is proud to announce a strong clinical tradition with continued presence at the upcoming American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) Liver Meeting Digital Experience™ (TLMdX), Nov. 13-16, 2020, with FibroScan referenced in 8 oral presentations and 115 poster presentations. Moreover, Echosens will present abstract #1530, “Modeling the Cost-Effectiveness of FibroScan for Fatty Liver Disease (FLD) in a General Population Incorporating Device Costs.” This actuarial assessment of the cost savings of FibroScan care models implemented at the point of care establishes FibroScan testing as an efficient, non-invasive method to detect, stage and monitor FLD. Through modeling care pathways and expenditure, researchers demonstrated that deploying FibroScan to assess liver stiffness and fat for members at risk can generate significant cost savings for payers.

“The short-term and long-term incremental costs of device implementation and managing additional patients are outweighed by the downstream savings from avoidance or delay of advanced liver disease, as well as reduced aggregate diagnosis costs,” concludes the study’s lead author Dr. Mazen Noureddin, director, Cedars-Sinai Fatty Liver Program. “Cost savings are increased when expanding access to a broader patient base. Furthermore, high penetration of FibroScan, combined with more intensive lifestyle and behavioral engagement through chronic care management programs, yield the highest returns in both Medicare and commercial settings. This data complements an expanding body of data supporting FibroScan as a key component of cost-effective screening programs for identifying suspected fibrotic NASH or cirrhosis in the primary care setting.”

Empowering healthcare providers with an accurate tool to measure liver fat and stiffness, FibroScan is innovative technology that advances efforts to halt the progression of FLD, including nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which affects approximately 85 million Americans and is the leading cause of liver disease in the United States. NAFLD’s more progressive state, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), is estimated to affect 16 million.

Jon Gingrich, CEO, Echosens North America, says, “Echosens arranged this independent modeling and research study to be conducted by Santa Barbara Actuaries Inc. (SBA) in order to validate the cost savings of FibroScan care models, which are covered under commercial, Medicare and Medicaid plans. We are delighted that these results were selected for presentation at the AASLD meeting, providing an opportunity to emphasize the ability of FibroScan to quickly, painlessly and non-invasively assess liver health at the point-of-care while delivering cost savings for the nation’s self-insured employers and health plan payers. In these times of increasing strain on our healthcare system due to COVID-19, these data further demonstrate that FibroScan is a valuable innovation that can improve care and reduce costs for managing chronic liver conditions affecting a large portion of the U.S. population.”

Research consisted of baseline statistics on disease prevalence, healthcare cost and utilization, which were derived from IBM’s Marketscan dataset (2015-2017) and CMS’s LDS dataset (2012-2016). A multi-state model was also created to model disease transition probabilities among simple fatty liver, steatohepatitis/fibrosis, cirrhosis, end stage liver disease and liver cancer. Marginal savings or costs due to implementing FibroScan were derived by comparing the aggregate costs from the current observed pathway and under an alternative pathway where FibroScan was adopted

FLD, including NAFLD and NASH, is the most common cause of chronic liver disease and cirrhosis. Despite an increase in prevalence, the disease remains highly undiagnosed. In the United States, the prevalence of FLD ranges from 10-46% percent. Systematic reviews suggest NAFLD prevalence in adults is 25-33%, while NASH prevalence is 2-5%. With better assessment tools in primary care, unnecessary specialist referrals and more invasive and expensive diagnostic testing can be reduced.

Gingrich adds, “Despite the urgent need to identify patients at high risk for progression to liver fibrosis, there have been no firm guidelines for NAFLD screening in high risk individuals due to inadequate data on cost-effective treatment options. We believe that the expanding body of data supporting FibroScan as an early assessment and monitoring tool can improve the quality of specialist referrals and enhance interventions in primary care that mitigate the risk that patients will develop more serious conditions like fibrosis, cirrhosis and even cancer of the liver.”

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About Echosens

Echosens, the developer of FibroScan®, is an innovative high-technology company offering a full range of products and services supporting physicians in their assessment and management of patients with chronic liver diseases. FibroScan is supported by over 2,500 peer-reviewed publications and examinations are covered by Medicare, Medicaid and many insurance plans.

Contacts

Brittany Tedesco
CPR Communications
btedesco@cpronline.com
201.641.1911 x 14