Effects of cardiovascular single pill combinations compared with identical multi-pill therapies on healthcare cost and utilization in Germany

Aim: This study assessed whether a single pill combination (SPC) is associated with lower direct healthcare costs. Materials & methods: Anonymized claims data of patients ≥18 years treated with drugs for cardiovascular (CV)-related diseases either as a single pill combination or multi-pill combination (follow-up to 1 year) were evaluated. After propensity score matching, 59,336 out of 1,369,840 patients were analyzed. Results: In all cohorts, patients receiving a single pill combination had a lower frequency of general practitioner and specialist visits. The patients also had a significantly lower ratio of all-cause hospitalization days and number of CV-related prescriptions as well as all-cause prescriptions (with one exception) compared with those receiving a multi-pill combination. Conclusion: Direct CV-related costs were significantly lower in four out of seven comparisons, with a trend toward lower costs in the other three comparisons.