Health Care Resource Utilization and Cost of Care Higher in Patients With Extensive Periocular Basal Cell Carcinoma

Patients with more extensive periocular basal cell carcinoma (pBCC) have higher health care resource utilization (HRU) and costs for treatments, according to a recent study published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology.

Researchers used real-world data from the IBM MarketScan Commercial and Medicare Supplemental database from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2018, to determine associated HRU and costs and compared these between patients with limited vs extensive pBCC in a retrospective cohort study. Patients were categorized by disease severity and outcomes were cost and HRU measures during the 18-month follow-up period.

Patients with extensive disease had a higher number of outpatient visits, radiation therapies, surgeries, days between first and last surgery, outpatient pBCC claims, and days between pBCC claims. They also accumulated higher total all-cause costs, outpatient costs, radiation therapy costs, and surgery costs compared with patients with limited disease.

“In conclusion, our data demonstrate that more extensive pBCC is associated with increased treatment burden and costs, reinforcing the need for early diagnosis and early treatment when the disease is limited to minimize these burdens,” concluded the study authors.

Reference
Kahana A, Bartley K, Meyer CS, Seetasith A, Lee J, McKenna E. Healthcare resource utilization and cost of care in patients with periocular basal cell carcinoma: a real-world study: economic burden of periocular basal cell carcinoma. Am J Ophthalmol. Published online October 22, 2021. doi:10.1016/j.ajo.2021.10.015