Objective: This research describes the clinical pathway and characteristics of two cohorts of patients. The first cohort consists of patients with a confirmed diagnosis of lung cancer while the second consists of patients with a solitary pulmonary nodule (SPN) and no evidence of lung cancer. Linked data from an electronic medical record and the Louisiana Tumor Registry were used in this investigation. Materials and methods: REACHnet is one of 9 clinical research networks (CRNs) in PCORnet®, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network and includes electronic health records for over 8 million patients from multiple partner health systems. Data from Ochsner Health System and Tulane Medical Center were linked to Louisiana Tumor Registry (LTR), a statewide population-based cancer registry, for analysis of patient’s clinical pathways between July 2013 and 2017. Patient characteristics and health services utilization rates by cancer stage were reported as frequency distributions. The Kaplan-Meier product limit method was used to estimate the time from index date to diagnosis by stage in lung cancer cohort. Results: A total of 30,559 potentially eligible patients were identified and 2929 (9.58%) had primary lung cancer. Of these, 1496 (51.1%) were documented in LTR and their clinical pathway to diagnosis was further studied. Time to diagnosis varied significantly by cancer stage. A total of 24,140 patients with an SPN were identified in REACHnet and 15,978 (66.6%) had documented follow up care for 1 year. 1612 (10%) had no evidence of any work up for their SPN. The remaining 14,366 had some evidence of follow up, primarily office visits and additional chest imaging. Conclusion: In both cohorts multiple biopsies were evident in the clinical pathway. Despite clinical workup, 70% of patients in the lung cancer cohort had stage III or IV disease. In the SPN cohort, only 66% were identified as receiving a diagnostic work-up.

Lung cancer is highly prevalent in Chinese population. The association of operative approach with economic burden in these patients remains unknown. This institution-level cohort study aimed to compare the cost-related clinical outcomes and health care costs among patients undergoing video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) and open lobectomy, and to investigate the factors associated with the costs. This retrospective cohort study included patients who underwent VATS or open lobectomy in a provincial referral cancer center in China in 2018. Propensity score matching (PSM) method was applied to balance the baseline characteristics in VATS lobectomy and open lobectomy group. Clinical effectiveness measures included post-operative blood transfusion, lung infection, and length of stay (LOS). Hospitalization costs were extracted from hospital information system to assess economic burden. Multivariable generalized linear model (GLM) with gamma probability distribution and log-link was used to analyze the factors associated with total costs. After PSM, 376 patients were selected in the analytic sample. Compared to open lobectomy group, the VATS lobectomy group had a lower blood transfusion rate (2.13% vs. 3.19%, P = 0.75), lower lung infection rate (21.28% vs. 39.89%, P < 0.001) and shorter post-operative LOS (9.4 ± 3.22 days vs. 10.86 ± 4.69 days, P < 0.001). Total hospitalization costs of VATS lobectomy group and open lobectomy were similar: Renminbi (RMB) 84398.03 ± 13616.13, RMB 81,964.92 ± 16748.11, respectively (P = 0.12). Total non-surgery costs were significantly lower in the VATS lobectomy group than in the open lobectomy group: RMB 41948.40 ± 7747.54 vs. RMB 45752.36 ± 10346.42 (P < 0.001). VATS approach, lung infection, longer post-operative length of stay, health insurance coverage, and lung cancer diagnosis were associated with higher total hospitalization costs (P < 0.05). VATS lobectomy has a lower lung infection rate, and shorter post-operative LOS than open lobectomy. Future studies are needed to investigate other aspects of clinical effectiveness and the economic burden from a societal perspective.