title: Location of cancer surgery for older veterans with cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Many veterans undergo cancer surgery outside of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). We assessed to what extent these patients obtained care in the VHA before surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  VHA-Medicare data, VHA administrative data, and Veterans Affairs Central Cancer Registry data.
  
  
  METHODS
  We identified patients aged ≥65 years in the VHA-Medicare cohort who underwent lung or colon cancer resection outside the VHA and assessed VHA visits in the year before surgery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Over 60% of patients in the VHA-Medicare cohort who received lung or colon cancer surgeries outside the VHA did not receive any care in VHA before surgery.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Veterans' receipt of major cancer surgery outside the VHA probably reflects usual private sector care among veterans who are infrequent VHA users.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, 180 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Elena M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Kouri
authors.forename: Mary Beth
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Landrum
authors.forename: Elizabeth B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Lamont
authors.forename: Sam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bozeman
authors.forename: Barbara J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: McNeil
authors.forename: Nancy L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Keating
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D006278:Medicare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D012042:Registries; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014728:Veterans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
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