Clinical and economic impact of blue light cystoscopy in the management of NMIBC at US ambulatory surgical centers: what is the site-of-service disparity?

Management of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) significantly impacts healthcare resource utilization due to requirements for ongoing surveillance. White light cystoscopy (WLC) represents the traditional approach to NMIBC disease surveillance, though physicians utilizing WLC alone may fail to detect all cancerous lesions.

The approval of blue light cystoscopy (BLC) as an adjunct to WLC enhances the urologist's ability to more readily detect cancerous tissue. A more complete resection will reduce recurrences and could result in reduced costs for the US healthcare system. This analysis quantifies the clinical and economic impact of the incorporation of BLC in the management of NMIBC in ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) considering current Center for Medicare Services (CMS) patient-physician coverage and reimbursement.

A budget impact model was developed to assess projected ASC costs for a cohort of 50 newly diagnosed bladder cancer patients over a 2-year follow-up comparing WLC alone vs. WLC + BLC. Treatment and surveillance intervals were based on AUA/SUO clinical guidelines. Clinical and cost metrics for staging and biopsy rates were assessed, with cost inputs based on Medicare reimbursement rates.

Use of WLC + BLC for NMIBC surveillance resulted in the identification of 5 additional NMIBC recurrences compared to WLC alone. There was an associated increased cost of performing BLC in an ASC setting, with a net increase in the total cost of care for NMIBC of $110 per cystoscopy over a 2-year period. If recurrences missed using WLC alone were to progress prior to detection, the model projects an increase in treatment costs borne by Medicare of $9,097 to $34,538 due to more intensive treatments required for the increased risk of recurrence.

Modeled results suggests that the Medicare program will incur increased costs, due to the gap between added costs per cystoscopy due to BLC. The current discrepancy in reimbursement disincentivizes community-based ASCs from adopting BLC, resulting in suboptimal patient care while increasing downstream treatment costs to Medicare, necessitated when missed disease progresses to higher stage/grade disease. The findings have important clinical implications for the optimal management of NMIBC and should inform healthcare policies that promote cost-effectiveness and enhanced patient outcomes.

Urologic oncology. 2022 Dec 21 [Epub ahead of print]

Neal D Shore, Meghan B Gavaghan

Carolina Urologic Research Center, Myrtle Beach, SC. Electronic address: ., Ipsos Healthcare, New York, NY.

PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36564259 

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