Treatment patterns and cost of nonmelanoma skin cancer management

Nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is the most common form of cancer in the United States, more common than all other cancers combined. The factors that affect the cost of skin cancer management are not well defined.

The objective was to estimate cost of episodes of NMSC care and the factors that impact those costs.

Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) data from 1999 to 2000 were used to assess costs of episodes of NMSC care. MCBS estimates of the number of episodes occurring in three service settings (physician's office, outpatient/ambulatory surgical center, or hospital) and demographics were obtained.

There were 497 episodes of care in 372 patients. Half the episodes were treated by dermatologists, and two-thirds were managed in physicians' offices. The mean episode cost for management in the office setting was 500 dollars (SD, +/- 487 dollars), and costs were higher when the episodes were treated in either the ambulatory surgical center or the hospital settings, 935 dollars (SD, +/- 456 dollars) and 4,345 dollars (SD, +/- 4939 dollars), respectively.

With the rising incidence and cost of NMSC to Medicare, it is increasingly important to preserve the low-cost management of this disease. Maintaining care of NMSC in the office-based setting is more cost-efficient than utilizing ambulatory surgical centers or hospital operating rooms.