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Cost analysis of leukemia treatment: a problem-oriented approach
Insights
A Problem Oriented List of Charges (POLC) helps track treatment costs for specific medical issues in patients with multiple conditions. For Acute Non-Lymphocytic Leukemic (ANLL) patients, granulocytopenia and thrombocytopenia treatments were most expensive.
Area of Science:
- Medical Economics
- Oncology
- Health Informatics
Background:
- Accurately determining the cost of treating individual medical problems in patients with multiple comorbidities is challenging.
- Existing medical record systems may not directly link patient care activities to their associated costs.
- Understanding treatment costs is crucial for effective healthcare management and resource allocation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce and evaluate the utility of a Problem Oriented List of Charges (POLC) for cost analysis.
- To identify the most costly medical problems in patients diagnosed with Acute Non-Lymphocytic Leukemic (ANLL).
- To demonstrate how linking charges to specific problems in medical records can improve cost interpretation.
Main Methods:
- Developed a Problem Oriented List of Charges (POLC) by associating each charge item with a specific patient problem.
- Compiled POLCs using data from Problem Oriented Medical Records (POMRs) of patients with ANLL.
- Analyzed the compiled POLCs to identify high-cost treatment areas.
Main Results:
- The treatment of granulocytopenia, thrombocytopenia, and their sequelae were identified as the most expensive problems in ANLL patients.
- The projected treatment cost for all identified problems over 11.5 months (median survival) for ANLL patients was $40,022.
- POLCs effectively linked charge-incurring activities to patient care outcomes.
Conclusions:
- The Problem Oriented List of Charges (POLC) is a valuable tool for understanding the cost of specific medical problems.
- Integrating POLCs into Problem Oriented Medical Records (POMRs) allows for better interpretation of medical care costs.
- Directly coupling reasons for care, charges, and outcomes in medical records is essential for accurate cost data interpretation.
Abstract:
A Problem Oriented List of Charges (POLC) can be used to obtain information about the cost of treatment of a single medical problem in patients with several coexisting medical problems. To prepare a POLC, each charge item is associated with one of the patient's problems. POLCs were compiled from the Problem Oriented Medical Records (POMRs) of patients with Acute Non-Lymphocytic Leukemic (ANLL). From the POLCs at was apparent that the treatment of granulocytopenia and thrombocytopenia and their sequelae were the most costly problems associated with ANLL. The projected cost of treatment for all problems for 11.5 months (the median survival of patients with ANLL treated with a single chemotherapeutic agent at this institution) was $40,022. By extending the POMR into the area of Medical reimbursement with a POLC, charge incurring activities can be coupled to the results of patient care. Only by directly coupling, in the original medical record, the reasons for, the charges for, and the results of medical care, can cost data be appropriately interpreted.