Medical Design and Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech

Potentially Avoidable Breast Cancer Surgeries Cost Patients And Healthcare System

December 19, 2016 By University of British Columbia

The number of breast cancer patients that have to be reoperated on in Canada is too high and impacts patient wellbeing and healthcare costs, according to University of British Columbia (UBC) research.

A recent study by UBC medical researchers examined the health care costs associated with lumpectomy patients requiring reoperations. A lumpectomy, known as breast conservation surgery (BCS), is a procedure that removes tumors, aims to conserve breast tissue, and is followed by radiation therapy.

The study concluded that with Canadian reoperation rates being more than double recommended targets, the additional cost to BC’s health care system alone is $2 million-per-year.

One of the problems, says study author Chris Baliski, a clinical assistant professor at UBC and surgical oncologist at the BC Cancer Agency in Kelowna, is the lack of clinical guidelines, targets, and report cards provided to surgeons themselves.

“In Canada, 23 percent of women require additional procedures, ranging from further BCS’ to full mastectomies and breast reconstruction,” says Baliski. “With reoperation rates varying widely between surgeons, it would be interesting to see if a systematic focus on health quality and improvement could minimize the number of surgeries being performed.”

Having to reoperate, adds Baliski, also makes a positive cosmetic outcome more difficult to achieve and can lead to additional stress and anxiety for patients and their families.

Clinical assistant professor and surgical oncologist Chris Baliksi. (Image credit: UBC)

In compiling the study, Baliski and fellow researcher Reka Pataky compared Canadian reoperation averages, calculated by the Canadian Institute of Health Information, with the 10 percent target advocated by the European Society of Breast Cancer Specialists.

Based on current research, the pair then developed multiple scenarios to measure how patient management is influenced by excessive reoperations and analyzed the monetary impact using financial data from British Columbia’s health system.

According to the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS), cancer is the country’s leading cause of death. Earlier this year, the CCS estimated that 99,500 Canadian women would be diagnosed with cancer in 2016, with 26 per cent of those cases being breast cancer.

Baliski and Pataky’s research was recently published in the journal Current Oncology.

Related Articles Read More >

Logos of Creo Medical and Intuitive
Creo Medical inks collaboration agreement with Intuitive
Lazurite ArthroFree wireless surgical camera system Minnetronix Medical
How Minnetronix Medical helped Lazurite with its wireless surgical camera
Medtronic Hugo robot-assisted surgery system
The road to a robot: Medtronic’s development process for its Hugo RAS system
A portrait of Stryker executive Siddarth Satish
How Stryker includes users for product design in the digital age

DeviceTalks Weekly.

May 20, 2022
DeviceTalks Boston Post-Game – Editors’ Top Moments, Insulet’s Eric Benjamin on future of Omnipod 5
See More >

MDO Digital Edition

Digital Edition

Subscribe to Medical Design & Outsourcing. Bookmark, share and interact with the leading medical design engineering magazine today.

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
DeviceTalks

DeviceTalks is a conversation among medical technology leaders. It's events, podcasts, webinars and one-on-one exchanges of ideas & insights.

DeviceTalks

New MedTech Resource

Medical Tubing

Enewsletter Subscriptions

Enewsletter Subscriptions

MassDevice

Mass Device

The Medical Device Business Journal. MassDevice is the leading medical device news business journal telling the stories of the devices that save lives.

Visit Website
MDO ad
Medical Design and Outsourcing
  • MassDevice
  • DeviceTalks
  • MedTech 100 Index
  • Medical Tubing + Extrusion
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World
  • R&D World
  • About Us/Contact
  • Advertise With Us
  • Subscribe to Print Magazine
  • Subscribe to E-newsletter
  • Attend our Monthly Webinars
  • Listen to our Weekly Podcasts
  • Join our DeviceTalks Tuesdays Discussion

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Site Map | Privacy Policy | RSS

Search Medical Design & Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech