Research Conducted at Harbin Medical University Has Updated Our Knowledge about Breast Cancer (The quality of invasive breast cancer care for low…

Insurance Weekly News

Research Conducted at Harbin Medical University Has Updated Our Knowledge about Breast Cancer (The quality of invasive breast cancer care for low reimbursement rate patients: A retrospective study)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Weekly News -- Fresh data on Oncology - Breast Cancer are presented in a new report. According to news reporting out of Harbin, People's Republic of China, by VerticalNews editors, research stated, "Though evidence-based treatments have been recommended for breast cancer, underuse of the treatments was still observed. To certain extent, patients' access to care, which can be enhanced by increasing the coverage of health insurance, could account for the current underuse in recommended care."

Financial support for this research came from National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Harbin Medical University, "This study aimed to examine the association between different proportions of reimbursement and quality of recommended breast cancer care, as well as length of hospital stay. In this retrospective study, 3669 patients diagnosed with invasive breast cancer between 1 June, 2011 and 30 June, 2013 were recruited. Seven quality indicators from preoperative diagnosis procedures to adjuvant therapy and one composite indicator were selected as dependent variables. Logistic regression and generalized linear models were used to explore the association between quality of care and length of hospital stay with different reimbursement rates. Compared with UEBMI (urban employment basic medical insurance), which represented high level reimbursement rate, patients with lower rates of reimbursement were less likely to receive core biopsy, HER-2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor-2) testing, BCS (breast conserving surgery), SLNB (sentinel lymph nodes biopsy), adjuvant therapy and hormonal treatment. No significant difference in preoperative length of hospital stay was observed among the three insurance schemes, however URBMI (urban resident basic medical insurance) insured patients stayed longer for total length of hospital stay. Significant disparities in utilization of evidence-based breast cancer care among patients with different proportions of reimbursement were observed. Patients with lower rate of reimbursement were less likely to receive recommended care."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "Our findings could provide important support for further healthcare reform and quality improvement in breast cancer care."

For more information on this research see: The quality of invasive breast cancer care for low reimbursement rate patients: A retrospective study. Plos One, 2017;12(9):e0184866. (Public Library of Science - www.plos.org; Plos One - www.plosone.org)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting S. Su, Dept. of Biostatistics, Public Health College, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, People's Republic of China. Additional authors for this research include H. Bao, X. Wang, Z. Wang, X. Li, M. Zhang, J. Wang, H. Jiang, W. Wang, S. Qu and M. Liu.

Keywords for this news article include: Asia, Harbin, Hospital, Oncology, Breast Cancer, Women's Health, Health Insurance, Medical Insurance, Post Trial Research, People's Republic of China, Clinical Trials and Studies.