[Nomadism of patients treated by radiotherapy in Île-de-France: Does our health system have as much money to waste?]

PURPOSE:Human, material, and financial resources being limited, the organization of the care system must allow an efficient allocation of resources. The management of cancers leads to specific and repetitive care for which the reimbursement of transport costs represents a high cost. We carried out an analysis of the additional transport costs, linked to the care of patients in Île-de-France, in a center other than the radiotherapy center closest to their home. MATERIALS AND METHODS:Using data from the Île-de-France Regional Health Agency, we have created a model evaluating the additional cost linked to transport generated by the care of a radiotherapy patient far from his home. In order to take into account the uncertainties linked to the hypotheses made in the development of the model, we carried out deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyzes. RESULTS:In the base case, the additional annual cost related to transport was 841,176 euros in Île-de-France. The probabilistic sensitivity analysis reports a total annual additional cost of 2,817,481 euros. CONCLUSION:Our results are similar to a report from the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs published in July 2011, which then pointed to an additional cost of between 4 and 6 million euros annually. The long-term care of cancer patients from their homes contributes to a deterioration in the quality of life linked to travel times, a delay in the care of potential treatment complications, and the spread of infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, and bacteria resistant to antibiotics.