[Cost per episode of care in the surgical treatment of skin cancer].
BACKGROUND
Skin cancer is the most common form of malignancy in humans. It can be treated with various techniques and by different specialists. The procedure with the lowest failure rates is surgical excision.


OBJECTIVE
To calculate the cost per episode of care in the surgical treatment of non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) when performed by dermatologists.


METHODS
An episode of NMSC surgical care was defined as the series of healthcare services required for a dermatologist to treat skin cancer. The cost per episode was calculated using the economic data made available by the public health institution in which the analysis was performed.


RESULTS
The cost per episode of care varied between 273.71 and 1,129.84 euro, depending on the surgical procedure performed and the related health services required.


CONCLUSIONS
Skin cancer is one of the cutaneous diseases with clinical manifestations that are easily recognized by dermatologists, who frequently do not even need histological confirmation to make the diagnosis and choose the therapeutic approach. Consequently, dermatological surgeons are highly efficient, since the episode of care is performed with a minimum of healthcare services and only in appropriately selected individuals. The cost of treatment varies substantially, depending on the complexity of the surgical procedures and the site where they are performed.
Hernández Martín
Angela
A
Unidad de Dermatología, Complejo Hospitalario de Burgos, Burgos, España. dermicus@yahoo.es
Núñez Reiz
Antonio
A
Sáiz Martínez
Marta
M
Rovirosa i Juncosa
Juan
J
D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000191:economics* / Q000601:surgery*