HMO membership, treatment, and mortality risk among prostatic cancer patients

Treatment and mortality risk were compared between prostate cancer patients receiving care in fee-for-service settings and those receiving care in a health maintenance organization (HMO).

Two samples were obtained from a population-based tumor registry. Patients in the first sample (n = 201) were interviewed shortly after diagnosis to obtain data on income, education, overall health status, and expenditures for health status, and expenditures for health care. These data were combined with information from the tumor registry on cancer stage, age, treatment, place of residence, and source of care. Only tumor registry data were obtained for most patients in the second sample (n = 962). For both samples, survival time was monitored for up to 80 months.

Multivariate analysis of data from the interviewed sample indicated that HMO patients were less likely to receive surgery but more likely to receive radiation therapy than were those in fee-for-service settings. Mortality risk was lower for the HMO patients than for those in fee-for-service plans. Findings based on the second sample were nearly identical.

This study suggests that HMOs may offer important advantages to lower-income patients at risk for specific life-threatening diseases.