The determinants of hospital and HMO vertically integrated delivery systems in a competitive health care sector

Challenges in the Analysis of Outcomes for Surgical Compared to Radiotherapy Treatment of Prostate Cancer

BACKGROUND/AIM

Prostate cancer can be treated with radical prostatectomy (RP), external-beam radiotherapy (EBRT), or brachytherapy (BT). These modalities have similar cancer-related outcomes. We used an innovative method to analyze the cost of such treatment.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We queried our Institution's Insurance Division [University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Health Plan] beneficiaries from 2003-2008, who were diagnosed with prostate cancer and also queried the UPMC tumor registry for all patients with prostate cancer treated at our Institution. In a de-identified manner, data from the Health Plan and Tumor Registry were merged.

RESULTS

A total of 354 patients with non-metastatic disease with treatment initiated within 9 months of diagnosis were included (RP=236, EBRT=55, and BT=63). Radiotherapy-treated patients tended to be older, higher-risk, and have more comorbidities. Unadjusted median total health care expenditures during the first year after diagnosis were: RP: $16,743, EBRT: $47,256, and BT: $23,237 (p<0.0005). A propensity score-matched model comparing RP and EBRT demonstrated median total health care expenditures during year one: RP: $8,189, EBRT: $10,081; p=0.48. In a propensity-matched model comparing RP and BT, the median total health care expenditures during year one were: RP: $18,143, BT: $26,531; p=0.015 and per year during years 2 through 5 from diagnosis were: RP: $5,913, BT: $6,110; p=0.68.

CONCLUSION

This pilot study demonstrates the feasibility of combining healthcare costs from the payer's perspective with clinical data from a Tumor Registry within an IDFS and represents a novel approach to investigating the economic impact of cancer treatment.

Redes de atenção à saúde: contextualizando o debate

A proposta de organização de redes de atenção à saúde tem sido incluída no grande campo do "cuidado integrado", denominação genérica que agrupa intervenções que variam muito em objetivos e escopo, tendo em comum a busca por mecanismos e instrumentos de integração do cuidado. Entre as experiências consideradas centrais, estão os sistemas integrados americanos e as redes regionalizadas dos sistemas nacionais de saúde, especialmente após a adoção de novos mecanismos de cooperação. No entanto, ainda que possam ser observadas semelhanças nas estratégias e arranjos organizacionais, é fundamental contextualizar o debate. Não considerar a natureza distinta dos sistemas de saúde tende a obscurecer diferenças centrais do âmbito da política, que condicionam as possibilidades de aplicação em um dado sistema de instrumentos desenvolvidos em outro contexto. Este artigo tem por objetivo buscar referências na literatura e na experiência internacional que possam contribuir para o debate da constituição de redes no SUS. Busca contextualizar a discussão da organização de serviços de saúde "em redes" em dois casos, o sistema nacional de saúde britânico e o sistema privado americano, focalizando especificamente no recorte da organização de serviços.