USE OF MEDICARE DATA TO IDENTIFY INCIDENT BREAST-CANCER CASES

Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) data from the Nation al Cancer Institute (NCI) provide reliable information about cancer in cidence. However, because SEER data are geographically limited and hav e a 2-year time lag, we evaluated whether Medicare data could provide timely information on cancer incidence. Comparing Medicare women hospi talized for breast cancer with women reported to SEER, Medicare data h ad high specificity (96.6 percent), yet low sensitivity (59.4 percent) . We conclude that Medicare hospitalization data can identify incident cases for cancers that usually require inpatient hospitalization. For cancers that often only receive outpatient treatment, such as breast cancer, additional Medicare data, such as physician bills, are needed to understand the entirety of treatment practices.