Diabetics Using Insulin Pens Over Syringes Could Save $17,000

By using insulin pens instead of normal syringes, diabetics could save up to $17,000 per year, according to research by Ohio State University. The study found that the insulin pen reduced the chance of needing emergency or doctor care, saving thousands for both the patient and their insurance agencies, despite their greater initial cost.

According to the studies senior author, Rajesh Balkrishnan, one of the largest savings is due to the prevention of accidents when using the insulin, including overdoses or under doses of the medication.

An insulin pen has a cartridge of a single dose of insulin. To use, the patient must only press a button on the pen, and the correct amount of insulin is injected. This greatly reduces the amount of accidental overdoses because the patient is not responsible for measuring the insulin.

It is estimated that diabetics account for over 21 million of the people living in the United States, with costs relating to diabetes accounting for $132 billion in health care.

The researchers compared patients who started insulin therapy with a syringe versus those who started with an insulin pen. Over the course of the study, the researchers added all of the costs associated with diabetes including hospitalizations, prescription costs, emergency room visits, and other needed treatments that resulted from the diabetes.

The numbers the researchers collected showed a large difference between those using the insulin pen and the syringes. For insulin pen uses the average health care costs of their diabetes was $14,857 a year. For those patients that used traditional syringes, the annual cost skyrocketed to $31,764.

The larger areas of savings were in total hospital costs, outpatient costs, and other diabetes related costs. However, the study also found that the annual prescription costs were also lower for the insulin pen users, about $6,122 compared to the $7,465 syringe users paid.

A separate study followed patients that switched from insulin syringes to insulin pens. The researchers found that the cost was slightly higher for those that switched, but they attribute the difference to patient vigilance when starting a new treatment.

However, average prescription costs for the pen were cheaper, at $535 when using the insulin pen versus $670 when using the syringe. However, the cost of the insulin pen in much higher than traditional syringes, at $840.

Despite the higher initial cost for a switch, Balkrishnan is confident that using the pens could save millions of dollars over time.

"While the pen is initially more expensive than the syringe, in the long run it could considerably reduce overall healthcare costs," Balkrishnan said in a press release.

SOURCES:

"Use of Insulin Pen May Save Diabetics Thousands of Dollars." Ohio State University. URL:( http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/insupen.htm)