University of Duisburg-Essen Researchers Describe Findings in Skin Cancer (One-year follow-up healthcare costs of patients diagnosed with skin cancer in Germany: a claims data analysis): Oncology – Skin Cancer

Health Policy and Law Daily

2022 JUN 24 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health Policy and Law Daily -- Investigators discuss new findings in skin cancer. According to news originating from the University of Duisburg-Essen by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Routine skin cancer screening (SCS) is covered by the German statutory health insurance (SHI) since 2008. The objective of this study was to compare direct healthcare costs between patients in whom skin cancer was detected by routine SCS and patients in whom skin cancer was not detected by routine SCS.”

The news editors obtained a quote from the research from University of Duisburg-Essen: “A retrospective observational study of administrative claims data from a large German SHI was performed. Patients with a diagnosis of malignant melanoma (MM) or non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) diagnosed in 2014 or 2015 were included. Costs were obtained for one year before and one year after diagnosis and analyzed in a difference-in-differences approach using regression models. Frequency matching was applied and risk adjustment was performed. Additional analyses were conducted, separately for specific age groups, excluding persons who died during the observation period and without taking costs for screening into consideration. A total of 131,801 patients were included, of whom 13,633 (10.3%) had a diagnosis of MM and 118,168 (89.7%) had a diagnosis of NMSC. The description of total costs (without risk adjustment) shows lower mean total costs among patients whose skin cancer was detected via routine SCS compared to patients in whom skin cancer was not detected by routine SCS (MM: €5,326 (95% confidence interval (CI) €5,073; €5,579) vs. €9,038 (95% CI €8,629; €9,448); NMSC: €4,660 (95% CI €4,573; €4,745) vs. €5,890 (95% CI €5,813; €5,967)). Results of the regression analysis show cost savings of 18.8% (95% CI -23.1; -8.4) through routine SCS for patients with a diagnosis of MM. These cost savings in MM patients were more pronounced in patients younger than 65 years of age. For patients with a diagnosis of NMSC, the analysis yields a non-substantial increase in costs (2.5% (95% CI -0.1; 5.2)).”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Cost savings were detected for persons with an MM diagnosed by routine SCS. However, the study could not detect lower costs due to routine SCS in the large fraction of persons with a diagnosis of NMSC. These results offer important insights into the cost structure of the routine SCS and provide opportunities for refinements.”

For more information on this research see: One-year follow-up healthcare costs of patients diagnosed with skin cancer in Germany: a claims data analysis. BMC Health Services Research, 2022,22(1):1-9. (BMC Health Services Research - http://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com). The publisher for BMC Health Services Research is BMC.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-08141-9.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Christian Speckemeier, Institute for Healthcare Management and Research, University of Duisburg-Essen. Additional authors for this research include Kathrin Pahmeier, Pietro Trocchi, Katrin Schuldt, Hildegard Lax, Michael Nonnemacher, Patrik Droge, Andreas Stang, Jurgen Wasem, Silke Neusser.