Patients with primary immunodeficiency diseases have rights, especially in terms of treatment and standards of care. (Click here for IDF’s Bill of Rights for Patients with PI.) To help patients protect those rights and educate healthcare providers and/or insurance companies, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases (PID) Committee created an IVIG toolkit. The kit includes recommendations and guidelines for physicians and for those responsible for coverage determinations to ensure the safe, effective and appropriate use of IVIG. You can share these documents with your healthcare provider and/or insurance company. The IVIG toolkit includes:
- Eight guiding principles for safe, effective and appropriate use of IVIG
- Guidelines for the site of care of the administration of IVIG therapy for patients with PID
- AAAAI Work Group Report: The Appropriate Use of Intravenously Administered Immunoglobulin (IGIV)
- “Use of intravenous immunoglobulin in human disease: A review of evidence by members of the primary immunodeficiency committee of the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology,” published as a supplement to The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in April, 2006
- Letter to contract and medical directors to advocate for the coverage of IVIG