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Phototherapy IS an Economical Treatment
Home phototherapy is generally less costly for treatment of
chronic conditions.
Home phototherapy reduces time and cost of
regular office visits to the physician.
Insurance companies save too, so they generally reimburse equipment costs.
Read our
insurance reimbursement guide for more
information.
Below are some research studies showing cost-effectiveness of
phototherapy and home phototherapy.
| #1 Strategy to manage the treatment of severe psoriasis: considerations of efficacy, safety, and cost. Feldman SR; Garton R; Averett W; Balkrishnan R; and Vallee J. Expert Opinion On Pharmacotherapy [Expert Opin Pharmacother] 2003 Sep; Vol. 4 (9), pp. 1525-33. |
| ABSTRACT: Psoriasis is a common, unpredictable, chronic immune-mediated disease characterised by skin lesions and frequently associated with arthritis. Although rarely fatal, psoriasis has a tremendous impact on a patients' quality of life. Traditional therapies for severe psoriasis include phototherapy, methotrexate, oral retinoids and cyclosporin. New biological agents add to the treatment options for psoriasis; however, they raise the already considerable cost of managing the disease. In considering efficacy, safety and cost-effectiveness, ultraviolet Type B (UVB) phototherapy appears to be the best first-line agent for the control of psoriasis. Methotrexate, psoralen plus UVA, alefacept, etanercept and infliximab are appropriate second-line agents, the choice of which requires considerable patient input and physician judgement. Developing rational, effective and acceptable strategies to manage psoriasis treatments would encourage cost-effective psoriasis management. |
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| #2 Narrow-band ultraviolet B treatment for vitiligo, pruritus, and inflammatory dermatoses. Samson Yashar S. Photodermatology, Photoimmunology & Photomedicine [Photodermatol Photoimmunol Photomed], 2003 Aug; Vol. 19 (4), pp. 164-8; PMID: 12925186 |
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BACKGROUND: Narrow-band ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) therapy has been used successfully for the treatment of inflammatory and pigmentary skin disorders including atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, mycosis fungoides, polymorphous light eruption, and vitiligo. METHODS: This is a retrospective review of the treatment outcomes of 117 consecutive patients with vitiligo, pruritus, and other inflammatory dermatoses, excluding those with psoriasis and CTCL, who were treated with NB-UVB between 1998 and 2001 at our institution. RESULTS: Approximately 80% of all patients showed improvement in their condition. NB-UVB phototherapy was well tolerated, with no serious adverse effects. In patients with vitiligo, 6.4% had an abnormal thyroid-stimulating hormone level and 6.5% had anemia.
CONCLUSION: NB-UVB may be considered as a viable therapeutic option in the treatment of vitiligo, pruritus, and other inflammatory dermatoses. Long-term adverse effects and cost-benefit analysis of NB-UVB therapy compared to other treatment modalities remain to be determined.
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#3
At-Home UVB Therapy vs. Systemic
Therapies:
Calculating the Lifetime Cost of Care Compared
to Other Therapies. Skin and
Aging,
CB Yelverton, AS Kulkarni, R Balkrishnan, SR Feldman. 1096-0120, Vol
13, Issue 7_2005, July 2005, Pages 50-52 |
At-home treatments with ultraviolet type-B (UVB)
phototherapy can offer a convenient, cost-effective and efficacious choice for
treatmentof your patients’ psoriasis, researchers noted in a poster they
presented at [the 2005] American Academy of Dermatology. After gathering
and analyzing the data, researchers concluded that phototherapy continues to be
“an effective and relatively inexpensive option for many patients.”
Home UVB therapy was the least expensive, costing about $7,100 for a 30-year
course of treatment. Some of the drug treatments studied cost up to $300,000
over the same time frame.
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