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Employer-Based Disease Management Programs in Cancer

Experience to Date

  • Review Article
  • Published:
Disease Management & Health Outcomes

Abstract

The cancer disease management field took root in the early 1990s. Health plans in the US seeking to aggressively manage cancer reached out to entrepreneurial start-ups that had infused the general principles of managed care into cancer programs. More than two dozen health plans had adopted some form of cancer disease management by the end of the century. However, employers, witnessing the managed care backlash and experiencing difficulty recruiting an adequate pool of skilled labor during flush economic times, have abstained from aggressive management of their workforces’ cancer treatment.

Employers, unlike health plans, pay for work loss associated with disability and absenteeism. Hence, the per capita cost of cancer to employers greatly exceeds that of health plans. As the US economy soured in 2000 and healthcare premiums grew at double-digit rates, employers began to abandon their previous reluctance in adopting disease-specific programs. Some employer initiatives to date are not fully-fledged cancer disease management programs; rather, pieces of such programs have been introduced. The return on investment achievable by implementing a comprehensive cancer disease management program, once known to employers and their consultants, will likely spur much greater adoption of such programs in the next 5 years.

This review highlights piecemeal efforts where employers have adopted a form of cancer disease management. Attention is given to some of the employer costs associated with cancer, suggesting that greater awareness of the exposure and potential upside will likely result in more employers embracing fully-fledged cancer disease management.

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Notes

  1. The Behavioral Health Carve Out Industry was instigated in the mid-1980s to satisfy the needs of the clients, who were for the most part employers.

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Rachel Terry for her exhaustive research. Dr Lee is an executive of Quality Oncology in McLean, Virginia, USA. The author received no funding for this review.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Quality Oncology Inc, 1430 Spring Hill Rd, Suite 106, McLean, Virginia, VA 22103, USA

    Frederick C. Lee (Accountable Oncology Associates)

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  1. Frederick C. Lee
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Correspondence to Frederick C. Lee.

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Lee, F.C. Employer-Based Disease Management Programs in Cancer. Dis-Manage-Health-Outcomes 12, 9–17 (2004). https://doi.org/10.2165/00115677-200412010-00002

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