Taco MAL Klem

Background/Significance Percutaneous thermal ablation has the potential to replace surgical treatment and improve the health-related quality of life of patients with small breast cancers, without jeopardizing current treatment effectiveness or safety.

Discussion In this proof-of-concept study, we developed the QCI model in collaboration with physicians, patient representatives and healthcare managers based on VBHC principles. The QCI model suits the need for monitoring healthcare costs and health outcomes, and thereby the evaluation and quality assessment of healthcare interventions or quality improvements on an institutional level.

Open AccessFull Paper Tools Share Abstract Objectives: Although vacuum-assisted excision (VAE) is a safe and effective alternative to surgical excision (SE), the latter is most commonly used for the management of benign and high-risk breast lesions. To evaluate the healthcare benefit of VAE, hospital costs and cosmetic outcome after VAE were compared to SE. Additionally, the impact of VAE implementation on hospital costs was investigated.