IQuity Research Unveils Potential $18 Billion in Health Plan Cost-Savings and Demonstrates Effectiveness of Identifying At-Risk Autoimmune Disease Patients

NASHVILLE, Tenn., May 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — IQuity, the industry’s only autoimmune disease-focused data analytics platform to address the fixable risk hidden in health plans, today announced that the company was published in a peer-reviewed article in the Journal of Clinical Medicine. This work is one of the first comprehensive overviews of prevalence, clinical characteristics, challenges, and financial impacts of autoimmune diseases and related disorders (multiple sclerosis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis, irritable bowel syndrome and fibromyalgia syndrome). These six conditions alone affect approximately 60 million people at an estimated cost to diagnose and treat of $90B annually.

Contrasting the prevalence of autoimmune diseases (50M people) and related syndromes (40M people) with cancer and COPD which affect 15 million and 24 million people respectively highlights the importance of focusing on these diseases even further.

In the article titled, “Illuminating an Invisible Epidemic: Addressing Cost Drivers in Diagnosis and Treatment of Autoimmune Diseases and Disorders,” IQuity determined after an extensive review of the literature four critical factors that impact cost in autoimmune disease:

1. Treatment
2. Controlling disease progression
3. Avoidance of high-cost events
4. Promotion of treatment adherence

For the inflammatory diseases and related conditions examined, the health system cost-savings potential is estimated to be greater than $18 billion.  

“Almost everyone knows someone who is affected by an autoimmune disease or related syndrome,” said Chase Spurlock, PhD, CEO at IQuity. “Most people don’t understand what an autoimmune disease is or the impact these conditions have on patients and the overall healthcare system. IQuity is committed to working with care management companies, self-insured employers, health plans and their partners to directly address this hidden health epidemic that’s wreaking havoc on the industry’s bottom line.”

The peer-reviewed article can be read in full here.

IQuity is Poised to Combat the Invisible Health Epidemic Today

As evidenced by the research findings, the impact autoimmune diseases pose to U.S. healthcare spending is severe. With the availability of IQuity’s autoimmune disease-focused data analytics platform, client insurance claims data are being analyzed to proactively find the addressable financial risk. Insights are produced that stakeholders can use to positively impact patient care and simultaneously reduce healthcare expenditures on these complex, chronic patients.

IQuity recently performed an analysis on a three-payer dataset using over three years of claims data for 2.2 million lives which further validated the ability of the company’s commercial platform to generate highly accurate predictions for these target conditions.

The proven impact of IQuity’s platform is illustrated through two specific examples related to delayed disease diagnosis and undetected risk.

• In a population of Crohn’s patients predicted with the disease in 2015, IQuity averaged their spend before and after a conventional diagnosis and found that a three-year delay increases the average annual cost of treatment by more than $13,000/year. If patients were diagnosed and treated earlier based on the predictions delivered, the average savings would be $9,000 per patient annually.
• Additionally, IQuity’s platform identified a member with a Crohn’s prediction in 2015. The patient received related gastrointestinal diagnoses over time, but a formal treatment plan for Crohn’s was not prescribed until 2017. Over the course of three years, the total healthcare spend for the patient was over $1 million. $385,000 was spent in various hospital settings.

“Predictive analytics in healthcare is a crowded space, often with little competitive differentiation,” said Damian Mingle, chief data scientist at SwitchPoint Ventures, an IQuity partner. “While many groups claim to have access to large amounts of data, this information alone cannot deliver clinical value unless these groups have the requisite expertise to deliver meaningful insights. IQuity stands out because they are combining a deep knowledge of autoimmune diseases and related syndromes with best in class data science approaches to generate actionable insights. These insights give clients and providers information to improve outcomes and lower costs.”

“When it comes to autoimmune diseases, IQuity illustrates that time is of the essence,” said Julia Polk, chief strategy officer and CFO at IQuity. “With our proven predictive analytics model, we are well positioned to pave the way towards faster, more accurate identification and more efficient management of the conditions. This approach can replace the potentially months or even years spent on the traditional patient diagnostic journey.”

To learn more about how IQuity is working with healthcare organizations today to identify undetected, uncontrolled or misdiagnosed autoimmune conditions and help reduce associated financial risk please visit iquity.com.

About IQuity

IQuity is a Nashville-based analytics company offering the only autoimmune disease-focused data analytics platform to enhance care management for payers who are pressured to find new ways to lower the cost of healthcare.

Contact: Kathy Gill, 615-481-6646, kathy@iquity.com

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SOURCE IQuity