Oncology calculator as a tool for optimizing drug provision for patients with malignant neoplasms in the subjects of the Russian Federation

Introduction. The increase in financial resources on the part of the state for the procurement of medicines for treating patients with malignant neoplasms makes the issue of calculation the need in medicinal preparations (MP) actual.

The aim of the work is to develop a special tool (oncology calculator) that standardizes the method for determining the need for drugs and can calculate the need for medications for the treatment of malignant neoplasms in a particular constituent entity of the Russian Federation.

Material and methods. To develop an oncology calculator, we analyzed the need for the drugs for the treatment of patients with the most common malignant neoplasms was analyzed based on current clinical guidelines approved and published on the Ministry of the Russian Federation website. The number of patients at each stage of a specific cancer was calculated. The frequency of application of a particular treatment regimen was calculated based on the approved standards of medical care for patients with cancer or from a project. The number of patients was calculated on the official statistics presented in the P.A. Hertsen Moscow Oncological Research Institute — branch of the Federal State Budgetary Institution “National Medical Research Center of Radiology” by the Ministry of Health of Russia. 

Results. We have developed a tool called the “Oncology calculator” that standardizes the methodology for determining the need of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation or a medical institution for drugs based on clinical guidelines, as well as facilitating the planning of the volume of medical care in the conditions of round-the-clock and day hospitals, and in the provision of medical care to patients with malignant neoplasms in outpatient settings.

Conclusion. The existing approaches to calculating the need for drugs for the treatment of patients with cancer in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation are scattered, which leads to the ineffective use of funds from the federal budget, compulsory medical insurance funds, budgets of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. A uniform approach to calculating the need for drugs to treat malignant neoplasms should be based on clinical guidelines containing drug regimens for treating patients.