Outlining the Need for Equitable Access to Care

EP: 1.Pathophysiology of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

EP: 2.Differential Diagnosis of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

EP: 3.Importance of Early Detection and Monitoring for Disease Progression

EP: 4.Risk Stratification and the Importance of Patient-Centered Care

EP: 5.Strengths and Limitations of Current Therapeutic Options

EP: 6.Overview of Different Therapies for Patients with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

EP: 7.Sotatercept for Patients with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

EP: 8. The Role of the Prostacyclin Pathway

EP: 9.Important Clinical Considerations for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

EP: 10.Economic Impact of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

EP: 11.Barriers to Care for Patients with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

EP: 12.Utilizing Health Economic Outcomes in Clinical Practice

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EP: 13.Outlining the Need for Equitable Access to Care

EP: 14.Final Panelist Thoughts on the Management of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

Healthcare Economics and Resource Utilization

PAH represents a serious condition associated with substantial healthcare resource utilization across multiple domains including frequent outpatient visits, emergency department encounters, and prolonged hospitalizations. The REVEAL registry demonstrated high hospitalization frequency with one admission often predicting additional hospitalizations, resulting in stays lasting days to weeks with costs reaching tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Additional major cost drivers include lung transplantation and expensive medication regimens.

Early diagnosis and intervention significantly impact healthcare economics by shifting care from expensive inpatient to more manageable outpatient settings and avoiding costly advanced therapies like parenteral prostacyclin infusions. Late-stage patients automatically require more expensive, burdensome treatments with associated administration costs, infusion port placement, complication management, and increased risk for intensive care admissions for routine illnesses. Early aggressive treatment can prevent progression to these high-cost care scenarios.

Patient financial burden varies significantly based on insurance coverage, with substantial out-of-pocket expenses particularly challenging for those on Medicare plans with Part D restrictions. Generic medications present a paradox where system costs may be lower but patient costs higher due to lack of manufacturer copay assistance programs available for brand medications. Third-party assistance programs and recent legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act have provided some relief, but medication cost interruptions remain a significant cause of treatment failure and subsequent hospitalization.