Accuracy of Medicare Claims on Androgen Deprivation Use Among Patients with Prostate Cancer
Objectives:
The main objective of the proposed study is to assess the accuracy of Medicare claims
on androgen deprivation use among patients with prostate cancer.
Hypothesis:
Medicare claims can be used to identify patients who have medical or surgical androgen
deprivation.
Study subjects & PCOS files:
All patients included in the PCOS will be included in the proposed study.
File needed: Personal file, main abstraction, two-year recurrence abstraction, and
cancer treatment information at 2-year and 5-year.
Methods:
To assess the accuracy of Medicare claims in identifying patients treated with androgen
deprivation, we plan to link the PCOS data with the SEER-Medicare linked database by case
numbers. Patients lack of Part A or Part B coverage or have private insurance or VA
coverage after prostate cancer diagnosis will be excluded from the study. Concordance of
the data and kappa statistics between the PCOS data and Medicare claims will be used to
assess the accuracy of Medicare claims.
Expected results & limitations:
There is mounting evidence that use of primary androgen deprivation has increased
substantially in recent years while the value of primary androgen deprivation for
localized prostate cancer remains questionable. If the accuracy of Medicare claims is
high then they can be used to monitor the time trends at the national level and various
geographic levels. Furthermore, SEER-Medicare linked claims can be used to evaluate the
potential impact of androgen deprivation on health care cost and outcomes.
Limitation of the study: This validation study assumes the data collected in the PCOS
are correct and complete on androgen deprivation. If the assumption is not correct, the
results drawn from this study will have limited value.
Data storage & protection:
The data will be stored in a password-protected computer. Only authorized personnel
have access to the office where the computer is located.
Personnel:
The investigator, Dr. Lu-Yao, has extensive experiences in using SEER and Medicare
data. She is working with several physicians to build algorithms for identifying androgen
deprivation from the Medicare claims.
Co-Investigators:
Peter Albertsen
Timeline:
Analysis to be performed: Feb 2004 - June 2005
Manuscript: July - Dec 2005
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