BACKGROUNDNeutropenia is a common side effect of chemotherapy, often requiring hospitalization for treatment of severe cases. Neutropenia hospitalization (NH) rates have been reported in individual studies, but national estimates are needed.METHODSChemotherapy‐induced NHs were identified in the 1999 hospital discharge data bases from 7 states. Cancer and chemotherapy prevalence data from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program and the National Cancer Data Base were used to calculate national NH rates for 13 cancer types. NH cost was estimated by multiplying charges by institution‐specific, cost‐to‐charge ratios from the 1999 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Hospital Cost Report. NH incidence was projected to national levels using population data from the United States Census and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.RESULTSThere were 20,780 discharges with documentation of cancer, chemotherapy, and neutropenia identified. Projecting to national levels, NH incidence was estimated at 60,294 cases (7.83 cases per 1000 cancer patients). The mean NH cost was $13,372. The mortality rate among patients with NH was estimated at 6.8% or 1 death for every 14 hospitalized patients. Among 13 selected cancer types, the NH rate was 34.20 cases per 1000 patients receiving chemotherapy (1 in 29 patients). NH was particularly common in patients with hematologic tumors, with an incidence of 43.3 cases per 1000 patients with such tumors (1 in 23 patients). The average NH cost for hematologic malignancies was $20,400, more than double the cost of NH for solid tumors.CONCLUSIONSAccording to the current study, NH affects > 60,000 patients with cancer each year in the United States, with an average cost of $13,372 per hospitalization and an associated inpatient mortality rate of 6.8%. Cancer 2005. © 2005 American Cancer Society.

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Due to its high prevalence, atopic dermatitis is an important problem in the dermatologic practice. The chronicity of the disease together with numerous triggering factors of varying individual impact create a complex situation which is difficult to manage under the current circumstances in our health care system. We describe the concept of an outpatient clinic especially for atopic dermatitis as established in our Department of Dermatology. A high degree of standardization is combined with a high measure of individual care. The aims of this clinic are an optimized outpatient management of atopic dermatitis, the gathering of epidemiologic data, the performance of controlled studies, and potentially the reduction of costs.