The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation is funding health services research projects to expand the base of rigorous evidence about pre-hospital diagnostic delays – i.e., those that occur before a patient reaches the care setting where their condition is diagnosed. The goal of this project is to determine if and how coverage uncertainty among insured populations accounts for delays in diagnosing cancer and explain a portion of ethnic/racial disparities in late-stage cancer diagnoses. Coverage uncertainty is defined here as the challenges insurance enrollees face in reliably predicting which medical expenses their policies will cover. To assess its impact, the research team will field surveys, encompassing both closed- and open-ended questions about patient experiences, to a nationally representative internet panel maintained by the National Opinion Research Corporation (NORC). They will gather experiences from a diverse sample of American households, which in the past five years had at least one member diagnosed with cancer. Based on this information, the researchers will conduct multivariate analyses to identify the influence of coverage uncertainty on delays in seeking a diagnosis as well as variations in diagnostic outcomes. Deliverables will include a project work plan, narrative and financial reports, and a range of products to reach clinicians, policymakers, and other audiences for study findings.

Principal Investigator(s)

Mark_Schlesinger_headshot
Researcher

Mark Schlesinger, Ph.D.

Professor of Health Policy - Yale School of Public Health

Dr. Schlesinger is Professor of Health Policy at the Yale School of Public Health, a fellow at Yale’s Institut... Read Bio