Francisci S., Mallone S., Pierannunzio D., Tavilla A., Gigli A., Lopez T., Capodaglio G., Guzzinati S., Dupaquier V., Ferrari G.

GRELL, Ascension Meeting 2017

Bruxelles, 24-26 may 2017

Abstract:

OBJECTIVES
In Italy the number of cancer patients and the economic burden on the national health system is growing. Aim of this presentation is to describe a web-based tool, available to cancer registries (CRs), which allows the estimation of health care expenditure directly correlated to diagnosis, care and monitoring of cancer patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The starting point of the Epicost tool is the information on prevalent cases provided by CRs, which are linked at individual level with administrative data on inpatient care, outpatient care and drug usage. The tool enable us to describe the health expenditure directly attributable to diagnosis and treatment of patients along a three-phase care pathway: initial (diagnostic procedures and treatments in the first 12 months after diagnosis), continuing (following treatments and monitoring for relapses), final (end- of-care treatments in the 12 months prior to death). The cancer sites of interest are colon, rectum and female breast.

RESULTS
Outputs provided by the tool are: quality checks on uploaded data; summary tables of prevalent cases and related costs by phase of care sustained by the National Health System, stratified according to the variables of interest (age, sex, stage at diagnosis, administrative data source); cost profile graphs; plots of costs by data source.

CONCLUSIONS
This web-based tool is an answer to the question of quantifying the costs of cancer patients. Information on costs, together with other epidemiologic indicator (incidence, survival, prevalence and mortality), offers a more complete description of the cancer burden on regional and national health system.
Other functions will be developed to facilitate an independent usage of the tool by the CR: management of the uploading function, dynamic output.