A 3-Step Strategy for Enhancing Migraine Patient Care: Bert B. Vargas, MD, FAHS, FAAN

WATCH TIME: 3 minutes

"Think Talk Treat Migraine is not meant to be an in-depth[MH1] educational initiative that turns people who may or may not be interested in becoming headache specialists into a headache specialist. It's all about the things you can do as a provider who sees patients with migraine, to give that person the best possible treatment that you can for them."

The proper clinical approach to managing migraine includes identifying the type of headache as migraine; additional thorough examination with MRI can provide further information such as the category of migraine.¹ Next, any comorbidities or exacerbating factors should be identified in the patient, and the clinician should perform an assessment of disability and attack characteristics of the migraine. Then, a review of the history of treatments, unmet needs, and treatment goals of the patient should be done to create a new personalized treatment plan.

This approach is similar to another, called, “Think Talk Treat Migraine,” which is an initiative launched by Eli Lilly and Company with a goal of empowering patients with migraine and their primary care providers,² who are often their first clinician they see when they experience suspected migraine. The program was developed as a 3-step approach to help both patients and providers to identify key symptoms of migraine and also have better conversations about the condition to lead to a proper diagnosis and treatment plan. In previous research, a survey showed that patients with migraine were hesitant to seek care for the disease and fewer received a diagnosis as well as the needed treatment,³ highlighting the importance of identifying migraine as soon as possible.

Bert B. Vargas, MD, FAHS, FAAN, associate vice president of neuroscience for US Medical Affairs at Eli Lilly, recently sat down in an interview with NeurologyLive® to discuss the Think Talk Treat Migraine program. He talked about how the program aims to enhance the quality of care that patients with migraine receive from their providers, and about the importance of addressing the impact of migraine on patients during conversations between them. Additionally, he shared how providers can ensure that they are following the appropriate guidelines to effectively diagnose and treat migraine.

Learn more about the Think Talk Treat Migraine program here.

REFERENCES
1. Tzankova V, Becker WJ, Chan TLH. Diagnosis and acute management of migraine. CMAJ. 2023;195(4):E153-E158. doi:10.1503/cmaj.211969
2. Lilly Launches Think Talk Treat Migraine™ to Help Improve Diagnosis and Treatment of Migraine. News Release. Lilly. Published June 17, 2023. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://investor.lilly.com/news-releases/news-release-details/lilly-launches-think-talk-treat-migrainetm-help-improve
3. Ashina S, Nicholson RA, Buse DC, Reed ML, Vargas B, Hutchinson S, Samaan K, Zagar A, Kim Y, Pearlman EM, Lipton RB. Identifying barriers to care-seeking, diagnosis, and preventive medication among those with migraine: results of the OVERCOME study. Headache. 2020;60(S1):127-128.