Chemotherapy administration: modelling the costs of alternative protocols

Area of Science:

• Health Economics
• Oncology
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Rising chemotherapy drug costs strain healthcare budgets.
• Administration costs are a significant, often overlooked, component of overall chemotherapy expenses.
• Accurate cost data is essential for effective economic evaluations and resource allocation in cancer care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a comprehensive understanding of the costs associated with administering intravenous chemotherapy.
• To create a model for estimating and comparing the administration costs of alternative chemotherapy protocols.
• To support economic evaluations and inform local decision-making regarding chemotherapy treatment.

Main Methods:

• Identified and categorized tasks involved in intravenous chemotherapy administration.
• Allocated costs to each task using evidence-based cancer protocols and primary data collection.
• Utilized a healthcare system perspective and Australian cost data to model administration expenses.
• Applied the model to chemotherapy protocols for non-small-cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer, and breast cancer.

Main Results:

• Administration costs varied significantly across protocols and cancer types.
• For non-small-cell lung cancer, costs ranged from $A1274 to $A3015.
• For colorectal cancer, costs ranged from $A5175 to $A8445.
• For breast cancer, costs ranged from $A1494 to $A4074 (all 2009 values).

Conclusions:

• The developed model provides practical insights for economic evaluations in chemotherapy.
• Administration costs per visit appear to decrease with an increasing number of visits.
• This research offers valuable data for informed decisions on chemotherapy costs and resource allocation.
• The model, developed in New South Wales, Australia, is adaptable to other healthcare systems.