Communicating Value in Health Care Using Radar Charts: A Case Study of Prostate Cancer.

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Health Services Research
• Medical Economics

Background:

• Transitioning from volume-based to value-based healthcare necessitates clear communication of therapy outcomes and costs.
• Standardizing outcome metrics and understanding diverse stakeholder costs are critical challenges in this transition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a standardized value framework for prostate cancer treatments.
• To utilize radar charts for visualizing and communicating patient outcomes and costs.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of data from men with low-risk prostate cancer treated with low-dose rate brachytherapy (LDR-BT), proton beam therapy, or robotic-assisted prostatectomy.
• Assessment of patient-reported outcomes (Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite-50) at 12 months post-treatment.
• Measurement of costs using time-driven activity-based costing over the first 12 months of care.

Main Results:

• Radar charts integrated outcome and cost data for 381 robotic-assisted prostatectomy, 165 proton beam therapy, and 238 LDR-BT patients.
• Low-dose rate brachytherapy (LDR-BT) demonstrated the highest overall value among the evaluated treatments.
• Patient preferences for specific outcomes could shift the perceived value of alternative treatment modalities.

Conclusions:

• Standardized visualization of outcome and cost metrics can facilitate comprehensive discussions on healthcare value.
• Radar charts offer an accessible method for presenting total value, including all outcomes and costs, to diverse stakeholders.
• Future initiatives should address variations in plotting costs and outcomes through focus groups.