Certificate of need programs, intensity modulated radiation therapy use and the cost of prostate cancer care

Certificate of need programs are a primary mechanism to regulate the use and cost of health care services at the state level. The effect of certificate of need programs on the use of intensity modulated radiation therapy and the increasing costs of prostate cancer care is unknown. We compared the use of intensity modulated radiation therapy and change in prostate cancer health care costs in regions with vs without active certificate of need programs.

This population based, observational study using SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results)-Medicare linked data from 2002 through 2009 was comprised of 13,814 men treated for prostate cancer in 3 regions with active certificate of need programs (CON Yes) vs 44,541 men treated for prostate cancer in 9 regions without active certificate of need programs (CON No). We assessed intensity modulated radiation therapy use relative to other prostate cancer definitive therapies and overall prostate cancer health care costs with respect to certificate of need status.

In propensity score adjusted analyses, intensity modulated radiation therapy use increased from 2.3% to 46.4% of prostate cancer definitive therapies in CON Yes regions vs 11.3% to 41.7% in CON No regions from 2002 to 2009. Furthermore, we observed greater intensity modulated radiation therapy use with time in CON Yes vs No regions (p <0.001). Annual cost growth did not differ between CON Yes vs No regions (p = 0.396).

Certificate of need programs were not effective in limiting intensity modulated radiation therapy use or attenuating prostate cancer health care costs. There remains an unmet need to control the rapid adoption of new, more expensive therapies for prostate cancer that have limited cost and comparative effectiveness data.