Physician practice outcomes measured.

2002 SEP 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A surprising number of variations exist in the way physicians diagnose and treat mammogram-detected breast cancer, according to a study published in the August 2002 issue of Cancer.

Researchers from Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) and Independent Health examined claims data to determine if practice volume impacted breast cancer outcomes.

"Overall, we found that physicians who treated a large volume of women with breast cancer used breast conserving surgery (BCS) at a higher rate than physicians who treated fewer women," said Stephen B. Edge, MD, chair of the Breast and Soft Tissue Surgery Program, department of surgery, RPCI.

"However, the rate of positive biopsy was not correlated to the number of procedures performed. This suggests that the volume of practice is not a surrogate for quality in the diagnosis of breast cancer," Edge added.

Insurance claims were used from Independent Health for the years 1995-96. All medical records used in this study were collected, blinded and reviewed by Independent Health to maintain confidentiality. A search of CPT codes identified records from 2796 patients who underwent a breast procedure.

All medical claims for these patients were collected, if the procedure identified cancer, all pertinent reports were gathered to confirm the diagnosis. Of these patients, 955 patients underwent mammogram-directed biopsies such as excisional biopsy with needle localization (EBNL) or stereotactic core needle ...