Increasing use of positron emission tomography among medicare beneficiaries undergoing radical cystectomy.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To examine factors associated with PET scan use in the pre-operative evaluation of patients diagnosed with bladder cancer.

Methods

Using SEER-Medicare data, we identified bladder cancer patients who underwent radical cystectomy from 2006 to 2011 (n = 4,138). The primary outcome was PET scan use within 6 months before surgery. To examine predictors of PET scan use, we fit a mixed logit model with health service area as a random effect to account for patients nested within health service areas. We also calculated the adjusted probability of use over time and examined variation among the highest volume surgeons.

Results

Among the 4,138 patients, 406 (10%) received a pre-operative PET scan. The adjusted probability of a patient undergoing a PET scan increased fr

SUBMITTER: Maganty A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7387176 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature