The time patients spent traveling to and from medical appointments, waiting to see their providers, meeting with their doctors, and receiving treatments was worth over $2 billion in 2005.

Elizabeth Lamont, MD, MS, an assistant professor of medicine and health care policy at HCP and an assistant physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, was part of the team that investigated this little-studied facet of cancer care—the time spent by patients to receive their care. Hours spent in travel, waiting, and receiving treatment for cancer are hours not spent working, for example, or enjoying leisure time.

“The costs to patients with cancer, even those with great insurance, are substantial when one accounts for the time they need to spend receiving this care,” says Dr. Lamont, an oncologist. “The enormous cost of patient time is multiplied when the patient is accompanied to tests and appointments by one or more caregivers.”

The abstract of the article, “Patient Time Costs Associated with Cancer Care,” published in Volume 99, Issue 1 (January 3, 2007) of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, can be found at the JNCI website. The study was covered by many news outlets, including the New York Times, Boston Globe, U.S. News & World Report, MedicalNewsToday.com, and CR magazine, the publication of the American Association for Cancer Research.