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Updated: Jun 11, 2026

Inverse Probability of Treatment Weighting (Propensity Score) using the Military Health System Data Repository and National Death Index
Published on: January 8, 2020
[Health services research in oncology using claims data]
1Abteilung Gesundheitsökonomie, Gesundheitspolitik und Versorgungsforschung, ZeS, Universität Bremen, Bremen, Germany. hoffmann@zes.uni-bremen.de
Background:
Cancer is in the focus of public and scientific interest as one of the leading causes of death, with an increasing case load due to demographic changes and rising treatment costs. Comparatively, little is known about health care utilization of cancer patients.
Methods:
This article first gives an overview of health services research and claims data of German statutory health insurance funds. Second, claims data of the Gmünder ErsatzKasse (GEK) for a period of 3 months (10-12/2008) are used to analyze patterns of drug prescriptions by oncologists.
Results:
A total of 1.98 million prescriptions were included. Based on all prescriptions, the proportion of compounded prescriptions is about 17 times higher for oncologists compared to other physicians (34.4% vs. 2.0%). Fur- thermore, the costs of these solutions prescribed by oncologists are higher (median: 397.68 Euros vs. 15.45 Euros).
Conclusion:
Health services research in oncology is urgently needed. Claims data of German health insurance funds offer a broad range of opportunities, especially when linked with other data. However, in the case of individually prepared solutions, claims data provide no further information on the drug.
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