Optimization of Prostate Biopsy Referral Decisions

Zhang, Jingyu; Denton, Brian T.; Balasubramanian, Hari; Shah, Nilay D.; Inman, Brant A.

doi:10.1287/msom.1120.0388

Cited by 78 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 76 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Ayer et al (2012) and Maillart et al (2008) develop a POMDP and hidden Markov chain for mammography screening for breast cancer, and Zhang et al (2012b) propose a POMDP model for screening for prostate cancer. In addition, Zhang et al (2012a) develop another POMDP application to determine the optimal timing of biopsy based on annual prostate-specific antigen test results. There are no biopsy decisions in colonoscopy screening because the lesions detected by colonoscopy are always removed.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing Colonoscopy Screening for Colorectal Cancer Prevention and Surveillance

Erenay

Alagöz

Said

2014

M&SOM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

M illions of Americans undergo colonoscopy screening for colorectal cancer (CRC) prevention and surveillance every year. The efficiency of colonoscopy operations depends on how often patients are screened, which is a complex and controversial decision, as reflected by the discrepancy between clinical practice and guidelines. We develop a partially observable Markov decision process to optimize colonoscopy screening policies for the objective of maximizing total quality-adjusted life years. Our model incorporates age, gender, and risk of having CRC into the screening decisions and therefore provides a novel framework for personalized CRC screening. In addition to deriving the maximum attainable benefit from colonoscopy screening, which reflects the opportunity cost of following current guidelines, our results have several policy implications. Using clinical data, we show that the optimal colonoscopy screening policies may be more aggressive than the guidelines under some conditions. Optimal screening policies recommend that females with CRC history undergo colonoscopy more frequently than males. In contrast, females without CRC history should be screened less frequently than males. This result, which was not recognized before, signifies the role of gender in optimal CRC screening decisions.

show abstract

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing Colonoscopy Screening for Colorectal Cancer Prevention and Surveillance

Erenay

Alagöz

Said

2014

M&SOM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Optimization methods have only recently begun to be applied to outcomes research problems such as finding the optimal treatment pathway for a particular type of patient within constraints imposed by the system (insurance coverage, access to certain types of facilities, etc.) [82]. In either case, it is apparent that dynamic simulation models would be an important precursor to optimization, greatly improving our understanding of the system necessary to formulate the optimization problem.…”

Section: Areas For Continued Methodological Development Applying Dynamentioning

confidence: 99%

Selecting a Dynamic Simulation Modeling Method for Health Care Delivery Research—Part 2: Report of the ISPOR Dynamic Simulation Modeling Emerging Good Practices Task Force

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In a previous report, the ISPOR Task Force on Dynamic Simulation Modeling Applications in Health Care Delivery Research Emerging Good Practices introduced the fundamentals of dynamic simulation modeling and identified the types of health care delivery problems for which dynamic simulation modeling can be used more effectively than other modeling methods. The hierarchical relationship between the health care delivery system, providers, patients, and other stakeholders exhibits a level of complexity that ought to be captured using dynamic simulation modeling methods. As a tool to help researchers decide whether dynamic simulation modeling is an appropriate method for modeling the effects of an intervention on a health care system, we presented the System, Interactions, Multilevel, Understanding, Loops, Agents, Time, Emergence (SIMULATE) checklist consisting of eight elements. This report builds on the previous work, systematically comparing each of the three most commonly used dynamic simulation modeling methods-system dynamics, discrete-event simulation, and agent-based modeling. We review criteria for selecting the most suitable method depending on 1) the purpose-type of problem and research questions being investigated, 2) the object-scope of the model, and 3) the method to model the object to achieve the purpose. Finally, we provide guidance for emerging good practices for dynamic simulation modeling in the health sector, covering all aspects, from the engagement of decision makers in the model design through model maintenance and upkeep. We conclude by providing some recommendations about the application of these methods to add value to informed decision making, with an emphasis on stakeholder engagement, starting with the problem definition. Finally, we identify areas in which further methodological development will likely occur given the growing "volume, velocity and variety" and availability of "big data" to provide empirical evidence and techniques such as machine learning for parameter estimation in dynamic simulation models. Upon reviewing this report in addition to using the SIMULATE checklist, the readers should be able to identify whether dynamic simulation modeling methods are appropriate to address the problem at hand and to recognize the differences of these methods from those of other, more traditional modeling approaches such as Markov models and decision trees. This report provides an overview of these modeling methods and examples of health care system problems in which such methods have been useful. The primary aim of the report was to aid decisions as to whether these simulation methods are appropriate to address specific health systems problems. The report directs readers to other resources for further education on these individual modeling methods for system interventions in the emerging field of health care delivery science and implementation.

show abstract

“…Lee et al (2008) used a simulation-based approximate dynamic programming algorithm to derive near-optimal strategies for initiation and management of dialysis therapy. Zhang et al (2012) investigated the problem of optimal prostate biopsy referral decisions and proved Downloaded from informs.org by [129.93.16.3] on 06 October 2015, at 15:25 . For personal use only, all rights reserved.…”

Section: Optimal Timing Of Medical Interventionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimal Vascular Access Choice for Patients on Hemodialysis

Skandari

Shechter

Zalunardo

2015

M&SOM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

W hich vascular access to use is considered one of the most important questions in the care of patients on hemodialysis (HD). An arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is often considered the gold standard for delivering HD due to better patient survival, higher quality of life, and fewer complications. However, AVFs have some limitations: they require surgery, it takes approximately three months to know whether the surgery was successful, and a majority of these surgeries end in failure. Conversely, another common vascular access, the central venous catheter, can be inserted via a simple procedure and used immediately after placement. In this research, we address the question of whether and when to perform AVF surgery on incident and established HD patients, with the aim of finding individualized policies that maximize a patient's probability of survival and remaining quality-adjusted life expectancy. Using a continuous-time dynamic programming model and under certain data-driven assumptions, we establish structural properties of the optimal policy for each objective. We provide further insights for policy makers through our numerical experiments.

show abstract

Optimization of Prostate Biopsy Referral Decisions

Cited by 78 publications

References 76 publications

Optimizing Colonoscopy Screening for Colorectal Cancer Prevention and Surveillance

Optimizing Colonoscopy Screening for Colorectal Cancer Prevention and Surveillance

Selecting a Dynamic Simulation Modeling Method for Health Care Delivery Research—Part 2: Report of the ISPOR Dynamic Simulation Modeling Emerging Good Practices Task Force

Optimal Vascular Access Choice for Patients on Hemodialysis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About