WSJ investigation: A sharp rise in specific prostate therapy parallels high Medicare payments

The Wall Street Journal: "Roughly one in three Medicare beneficiaries diagnosed with prostate cancer today gets a sophisticated form of radiation therapy called IMRT. …The story behind the sharp rise in the use of IMRT — which stands for intensity-modulated radiation therapy — is about more than just the rapid adoption of a new medical technology. It's also about financial incentives. … Critics, including some independent radiation oncologists who are losing business, say the urology groups steer many patients toward IMRT for financial gain, drawn by Medicare payments that can reach $40,000 per patient, depending on the state. The urology groups deny this," saying the trend is driven by patient demand (Carreyrou and Tamman, 12/7). A separate article explains the methodology behind the Journal's investigation (12/8).

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This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.