Addressing healthcare disparities that can be created with an uneven socioeconomic distribution of diagnostic tests and therapeutics. Here are a few examples from work we have produced through this initiative:
A network-wide review of patients with access to prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) Imaging and Therapy demonstrated that non-hispanic Whites were more likely to obtain PSMA positron emission tomography (PET) scans.
Similar findings were seen with the single-institutional review of cardiac PET/magnetic resonance (MR) for the diagnosis of cardiac sarcoidosis. So we conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis which demonstrated that cardiac PET/MR is actually more cost-effective than standard of care imaging and therefore should be considered for insurance coverage.
Publications and Presentations:
Martinez, J., et al., MP51-17 demographics and socioeconomic description of patients with prostate cancer in whom a prostate-specific membrane antigen pet was performed: A single-institution, retrospective analysis in NYC, J. Urol., 207 (Supplement 5): 2022.
Subramanian, K., et al., MWMA2215 Cost-benefit analysis recommends further utilization of cardiac PET/MR for sarcoidosis evaluation, ACNM Annual Meeting, ACNM: 2022.
Spratt, D., et al., Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Genomic Sequencing, JAMA Onc., 2(8), p.1070: 2016.