Physician experience and attitudes toward addressing the cost of cancer care.

Addressing Patients’ Priorities as a Strategy to Improve Value

“…Furthermore, even among providers with the relevant interest and skills, it is challenging to address financial concerns. A survey of 333 ASCO members found that 40% addressed costs rarely, or never, and that the greatest barrier to these discussions was a lack of resources [23]. This finding is consistent with studies of other providers.…”

A review of cost communication in oncology: Patient attitude, provider acceptance, and outcome assessment

“…Five studies (7 articles) reported physician acceptance regarding cost communication ( Table 2 and Supporting Table 3; see online supporting information). 9,12,[15][16][17]21,25 Three studies (4 articles) also explored patient attitudes, as detailed above. All studies included oncologists in the United States, and 1 surveyed both US and Canadian oncologists.…”

“…12 Information was collected from selfadministered questionnaires in 2 studies, 9,12,25 from interviews in another 2 studies, 17,21 and 1 from transcribed dialogue of audio-recorded clinical encounters in 1 study. 15,16 Two studies recruited study participants by contacting members of ASCO, 9,12,25 and 1 included only oncologists in an academic setting. 17 Although all studies included oncologists, 1 focused exclusively on medical oncology, 9,12 and another also added a physician assistant to the interview pool.…”

“…9,12 Two studies inquired about physician comfort level toward cost communication; 1 reported that 28% felt comfortable with it, 17 and another indicated that 75% of physicians considered it their responsibility to discuss outof-pocket costs with their patients when making treatment decisions. 25 No weighted mean was reported because of the vast difference in sample size between the 2 studies (18 vs 333). Three studies asked physicians whether cost communication was frequent in their practice, and the proportion reporting that they always or frequently discussed costs with their patients ranged from 6% 17 to 60%, 25 with a weighted mean of 47% (Fig.…”

A Touchy Subject: Can Physicians Improve Value by Discussing Costs and Clinical Benefits With Patients?

“…Studies suggest that oncologists might avoid cost discussions because they are unprepared for those discussions [19]. In other words, oncologists do not know how much the treatment they prescribe will cost to any given patient, and few believe they have access to adequate resources to discuss costs [20]. With lack of transparency in health systems’ pricing, and with per-patient variation in insurance coverage, tracking costs for patients is challenging, if not impossible.…”