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Surgeon peer network characteristics and adoption of new imaging techniques in breast cancer: A study of perioperative MRI.

Authors :
Tannenbaum, Sara S.
Soulos, Pamela R.
Herrin, Jeph
Pollack, Craig E.
Xu, Xiao
Christakis, Nicholas A.
Forman, Howard P.
Yu, James B.
Killelea, Brigid K.
Wang, Shi‐Yi
Gross, Cary P.
Source :
Cancer Medicine. Dec2018, Vol. 7 Issue 12, p5901-5909. 9p.
Publication Year :
2018

Abstract

Background: Perioperative MRI has disseminated into breast cancer practice despite equivocal evidence. We used a novel social network approach to assess the relationship between the characteristics of surgeons' patient‐sharing networks and subsequent use of MRI. Methods: We identified a cohort of female patients with stage 0‐III breast cancer from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)‐Medicare database. We used claims data from these patients and non‐cancer patients from the 5% Medicare sample to identify peer groups of physicians who shared patients during 2004‐2006 (T1). We used a multivariable hierarchical model to identify peer group characteristics associated with uptake of MRI in T2 (2007‐2009) by surgeons who had not used MRI in T1. Results: Our T1 sample included 15 149 patients with breast cancer, treated by 2439 surgeons in 390 physician groups. During T1, 9.1% of patients received an MRI; the use of MRI varied from 0% to 100% (IQR 0%, 8.5%) across peer groups. After adjusting for clinical characteristics, patients treated by surgeons in groups with a higher proportion of primary care physicians (PCPs) in T1 were less likely to receive MRI in T2 (OR = 0.81 for 10% increase in PCPs, 95% CI = 0.71, 0.93). Surgeon transitivity (ie, clustering of surgeons) was significantly associated with MRI receipt (P = 0.013); patients whose surgeons were in groups with higher transitivity in T1 were more likely to receive MRI in T2 (OR = 1.29 for 10% increase in clustering, 95% CI = 1.06, 1.58). Conclusion: The characteristics of a surgeon's peer network are associated with their patients' subsequent receipt of perioperative MRI. We examined whether the characteristics of surgeons' peer networks were associated with the uptake of a new imaging technique in breast cancer care. We found that two network characteristics, surgeon transitivity, and proportion of PCPs were significantly associated with the adoption of perioperative MRI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20457634
Volume :
7
Issue :
12
Database :
Academic Search Index
Journal :
Cancer Medicine
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
133755137
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.1821