Massachusetts General Hospital

CTC screening for colorectal cancer not cost-effective when reimbursed at same rate as colonoscopy

27/Jul/2010

Computed tomographic colonography, also known as virtual colonoscopy, is not cost-effective if reimbursed at the same rate as colonoscopy, according to a study published online July 27 in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Amy B. Knudsen, Ph.D., of the Institute for Technology Assessment at Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues report, "If CTC screening is reimbursed at roughly the same rate as colonoscopy, the cost, relative to the benefit derived and to the availability and costs of other colorectal screening tests, is too high for it to be a cost-effective screening strategy."

link to full journal release

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