Cost of Care for the Initial Management of Ovarian Cancer

Abstract

Objective To examine the cost of care during the first year after a diagnosis of ovarian cancer, estimate the sources of cost, and explore the out-of-pocket costs. Methods We performed a retrospective, cohort study of women with ovarian cancer diagnosed from 2009–2012 who underwent both surgery using the Truven Health MarketScan database. This database is comprised of patients covered by commercial insurance sponsored by over 100 employers in the United States. Medical expenditures, including physician reimbursement, for a 12-month period beginning on the date of surgery were estimated. All payments were examined, including out-of-pocket costs for patients. Payments were divided into expenditures for inpatient care, outpatient care (including chemotherapy), and outpatient drug costs. The 12-month treatment period was divided into 3 phases: surgery-30 days (operative period), 1–6 months (adjuvant therapy), and 6–12 months after surgery. The primary outcome was the overall cost of care within the first year of diagnosis of ovarian cancer, while secondary outcomes included assessment of factors associated with cost. Results A total of 26,548 women with ovarian cancer who underwent surgery were identified. After exclusion of patients with incomplete insurance enrollment/coverage, those who did not undergo chemotherapy, and those with capitated plans, our cohort consisted of 5,031 women. The median total medical expenditures per patient during the first year after the index procedure was $93,632 (interquartile range [IQR] $62,319–140,140). Inpatient services accounted for $30,708 (IQR, $20,102–51,107; 37.8%) in expenditures, outpatient services $52,700 (IQR, $31,210–83,206; 58.3%) and outpatient drug costs $1,814 (IQR, $603–4,402; 3.8%). The median out-of-pocket expense was $2988 (IQR, $1649–5088). This included $1509 (IQR, $705–2878) for outpatient services, $589 (IQR, $3–1715) for inpatient services, and $351 (IQR, $149–656) for outpatient drug costs. Conclusion The average cost of care for women with ovarian cancer in the first year after surgery is approximately $100,000. Patients bear approximately 3% of these costs in the form of out-of-pocket expenses.

The Out-of-Pocket Cost Burden of Cancer Care—A Systematic Literature Review

“…The systematic review identified 3639 records, of which 105 full-text studies were retrieved [ 8 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 ,…”

Impact of implementation of an enhanced recovery program in gynecologic surgery on healthcare costs

“…For example, a recent Original Research GYNECOLOGY ajog.org national estimate of the mean reimbursement for surgical and postoperative care of a woman with newly diagnosed advanced stage epithelial ovarian cancer is $30,501. 23 With this considered as a baseline estimate and assuming the percent difference in hospital charges that were observed in this study is a reasonable approximation for reduction in healthcare spending, the implementation of an ERAS program would be estimated to reduce the amount spent by a healthcare payer on the surgical and postoperative care of each patient by approximately $4760. Although changes in hospital charges do not correspond perfectly with payer reimbursement, these estimates would suggest that a nationwide application of ERAS programs to the care of women with ovarian cancer could save more than $100 million per year in healthcare spending.…”

Nanomaterial-based biosensor developing as a route toward in vitro diagnosis of early ovarian cancer

“…In conclusion, nanomaterial-based IVD not only improves our understanding of OC pathology, treatment, but may have a major impact in the field of oncology. Finally, the clinical transformation of more nanomaterials-based biosensors will be realized soon in the field of early OC diagnosis with the advances of tumor biology and nanotechnology [ [128] , [129] , [130] , [131] ]. More effective and reliable nanomaterial-based IVD, with higher sensitivity and accuracy, smaller size, and more economical price, will be developed for clinical testing and even home self-testing.…”