Cancer care costs highest in hospitals

An episode of cancer treatment costs 24 percent more at a hospital than if the same course of treatment were carried out at a doctor's office, according to a new analysis from Avalere Health. The Avalere study aimed to compare the net costs, everything paid by both the patient and the insurance company, of patients' course of treatment. It compares cancer care that's managed by a doctor's office (about 75 percent of current treatments) versus those overseen by a hospital. The average course of chemotherapy treatment managed in a physician’s office cost $28,200. The same treatment administered in a hospital cost $35,000.