Full cost of diagnostic pathology for lung carcinoma in Italy: results from four Pathology Units

Objective. To calculate the full cost of diagnostic pathology tests for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) across four Italian Pathology Units. Methods. Pathology Units were located in private (2) and public (2) hospitals distributed across the Italian territory (North: 2; Centre: 1; South: 1). Pathologists provided via questionnaire data on tests on NSCLC samples along with the identi!cation and quanti!cation of the necessary healthcare resources (diagnostic technologies, laboratory instruments and personnel). Resources were valued according to hospital-speci!c unit, yearly and hourly costs (disposables; technologies; professional clusters). Results. The full cost per NSCLC tissue sample included histopathological immunophenotypic and required molecular analysis. Overall, it reached is an element of659.77 and it was mainly composed of direct costs (77.69%). The processing of a NSCLC tissue sample was labour intensive, as a relevant share of the full cost (44.98%) was actually due to personnel costs, with laboratory technicians, biologists and pathologist driving this !nding (17.09%,12.43% and 10.81%, respectively). Conclusions. The results of this research can facilitate the negotiation of new dedicated tariffs for NSCLC sample processing with the national or local third party-payers.

Automated summary

The objective of this study was to calculate the full cost of diagnostic pathology tests for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) in four Italian Pathology Units. Pathologists provided data on NSCLC samples and the necessary healthcare resources. The total cost per NSCLC tissue sample reached 659.77 euros, with the majority being direct costs. The findings can help negotiate new tariffs for NSCLC sample processing with third-party payers.