JCO abstract: Understanding Patients' Attitudes Toward Communication About the Cost of Cancer Care

 Blogger's Note: semantics - 'most'/'majority' requires language editing eg. majority 68%, most 59% (language bias?)

Understanding Patients' Attitudes Toward Communication About the Cost of Cancer Care

Abstract

Purpose: Recent publications have promoted physician-patient communication on cost as a means of decreasing overall spending and minimizing patients' financial burden in oncology. No study has assessed patients' perspectives on cost communication in oncology......

Results: Of the 771 patients approached, 256 responded (response rate, 33%). Most (68%) preferred to know about out-of-pocket costs before treatment. A majority (59%) wanted their physician to discuss these costs with them. Although 76% reported feeling comfortable discussing cost with their physician, 74% were amenable to discussing cost with someone other than their physician. Most patients did not consider out-of-pocket costs (57%) or the health care costs of the country (61%) in their decision making, nor did they believe their physician should (55%). Patients receiving active chemotherapy were less likely to want to discuss out-of-pocket costs with their physician (P = .035). 

Conclusion: Patients' comfort with and desire to discuss cancer costs exceed that of oncologists, suggesting a need to educate oncologists on this important topic. A patient's desire to understand treatment-associated cost does not equate with a desire for cost to influence medical decision making.