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Background: Differences in Medicare expenditures during the initial phase of cancer care among rural and medically underserved elderly women with breast cancer (BC) and those from a nationally representative cohort have not been reported. The objective of this study was to determine Medicare expenditures during the initial phase of care among women in West Virginia (WV) who were Medicare beneficiaries with BC and compare them with national estimates. The magnitude of differences in these expenditures was also determined by using a linear decomposition technique. Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted using the WV Cancer Registry-Medicare database and the SEER-Medicare database. Our study cohorts consisted of elderly women aged ≥66 years diagnosed with incident BC in 2003 to 2006. Medicare expenditures during the initial year after BC diagnosis were derived from all of the Medicare files. Generalized linear regressions were performed to model expenditures, after controlling for predisposing factors, enabling resources, need, healthcare use, and external healthcare environmental factors. Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition was conducted to examine the proportion of the differences in the average expenditures explained by independent variables included in the model. Results: Average Medicare expenditures for the WV Medicare cohort during the initial phase of BC care were $25,626 compared with $29,502 for the SEER-Medicare cohort; a difference of $3,876. In the multivariate regression, this difference decreased to $708 and remained significant. Only 16% of the differences in the average expenditures between the cohorts were explained by the independent variables included in the model. Enabling resources (6.86%), healthcare use (7.55%), and external healthcare environmental factors (3.33%) constituted most of the explained portion of the differences in the average expenditures. Conclusions: The difference in average Medicare expenditures between the elderly beneficiaries with BC from a rural state (WV) and their national counterparts narrowed but remained significantly lower after multivariate adjustment. The explained portion of this difference was mainly driven by enabling and healthcare use factors, whereas 84% of this difference remained unexplained.

Background: We examined guideline-concordant care among women with HER2+ MBC and determined the magnitude of differences in guideline-concordant care between those with positive and negative hormone receptor (HR) status by utilizing a non-linear decomposition technique. Methods: We conducted a retrospective observational cohort study using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, End Results-Medicare linked database. The study cohort consisted of women age >66 years diagnosed with HER2+ MBC in 2010–2013 (N=241). Guideline-concordant initial care within 6 months of cancer diagnosis was defined as per NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines). A multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify the significant predictors of guideline-concordant care. A post-regression non-linear decomposition was conducted to examine the magnitude of disparities in guideline concordant care by women’s HR status. Results: 76.8% of the study cohort received guideline-concordant care, while 23.2% did not. As compared to those who did not receive guideline-concordant care, women who received guideline-concordant care were significantly more likely to have positive HR status (adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=2.11; P=.04), had good performance status (AOR=3.46; P=.0008), and had a higher number of oncology visits (AOR=8.05; P<.0001). With 1 year increase in age at cancer diagnosis, there was 5% lesser likelihood of receiving guideline-concordant care (AOR=0.95; P=.04). From the decomposition analysis, 19.0% of the disparity in guideline-concordant care between women with positive and negative HR status was explained by differences in their characteristics. Enabling characteristics (marital status, census-level income, and education) explained the highest (22.8%) proportion of the disparity, followed by external environmental factors (location of residence, SEER region, hospitals offering oncology services) at 5.3%, and need-related factors (tumor grade, comorbidity, performance status, number of metastases) at 3.2%. Conclusion: Almost one quarter of the study cohort did not receive guideline-concordant care. There are opportunities to improve cancer care for women with negative HR status who have lower socioeconomic status. The high unexplained portion of differences in guideline-concordant care (81.0%) can be due to patient preferences for treatment, propensity to seek care, and organizational and physician-level factors not captured in the database.

Background: It is crucial to identify whether women with HER2-positive (HER2+) metastatic breast cancer (MBC) are treated according to treatment guidelines and whether treatment disparities exist. This study examined guideline-concordant treatment among women with HER2+ MBC and determined the magnitude of differences in treatment between those with positive and negative hormone receptor (HR) status using a nonlinear decomposition technique. Methods: A retrospective observational cohort study was conducted using the SEER-Medicare linked database. The study cohort consisted of women aged ≥66 years diagnosed with HER2+ MBC in 2010 through 2013 (n=241). Guideline-concordant initial treatment after cancer diagnosis was defined based on the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology for Breast Cancer. A multivariable logistic regression was performed to identify significant predictors of guideline-concordant treatment. A postregression decomposition was conducted to identify the magnitude of disparities in treatment by HR status. Results: Of 241 women included in the study, a total of 76.8% received guideline-concordant treatment. These women were significantly more likely to have positive HR status (P=.0298), have good performance status (P=.0009), and more oncology visits (P<.0001). With 1-year increments in age at cancer diagnosis, the likelihood of receiving guideline-concordant treatment reduced by 5% (P=.0356). The decomposition analysis revealed that 19.0% of the disparity in guideline-concordant treatment between women with positive and negative HR status was explained by differences in their characteristics. Enabling characteristics (marital status, income, and education) explained the highest (22.8%) proportion of the disparity. Conclusions: Nearly one-quarter of the study cohort did not receive guideline-concordant treatment. Our findings suggest opportunities to improve cancer care for elderly women with negative HR status who are unpartnered or have lower socioeconomic status. The high unexplained portion of the disparity by HR status can be due to patient treatment preferences, propensity to seek care, and organizational and physician-level characteristics that were not included in the study.

Background: Understanding the patterns of healthcare utilization and costs during the initial phase of care (12 months after breast cancer [BC] diagnosis) in older women (aged ≥65 years) is crucial in the allocation of Medicare resources. The objective of this study was to determine healthcare utilization and costs during the initial phase of care in older, female, Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries diagnosed with BC, and to determine the factors associated with higher costs. Methods: A retrospective observational study using the SEER-Medicare linked database was conducted in 69,307 women aged ≥66 years diagnosed with primary incident BC in 2003–2009 to determine healthcare utilization, average costs, and costs for specific services during the initial phase of care. Generalized linear model regression was conducted to identify the factors associated with higher costs in a multivariate framework. Results: A total of 96% of women were treated with surgery during the initial phase of BC care, whereas 21% and 54% underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy, respectively. Costs during the initial phase of care totalled $28,075 in 2012 USD, comprising $13,344 for physician services and $7,456 for outpatient services. Factors associated with higher costs during the initial phase of care were younger age (66–69 years), African American race, higher household income, advanced stages of BC, initial BC treatment, higher number of primary care physician visits, and presence of comorbidities and/or a mental condition. Conclusions: The economic burden of BC is substantial during the initial phase of care. Physician and outpatient services accounted for the highest proportion of costs. Predisposing factors, need-related factors, healthcare use, and external environmental healthcare factors significantly predicted costs during the initial phase of care.