ESTRO 2025 - Abstract Book

S2280

Interdisciplinary – Health economics & health services research

ESTRO 2025

1542

Digital Poster Inequities in the Distribution of Radiotherapy Treatments Funded by the Public Health Insurance in Chile: Analysis 2018–2022 Gonzalo Ulloa 1 , Raúl Aguilar 2 , Carolina Rojas-García 3 , Bruno Nervi 4,1 , Pablo Munoz-Schuffenegger 5 1 Department of Hematology and Oncology, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile. 2 Institute of Public Health Policies (IPSUSS), Facultad de medicina y ciencias Universidad San Sebastián, Santiago, Chile. 3 Dentistry School, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile. 4 Center for Cancer Prevention and Control (CECAN), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile. 5 Department of Hematology – Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile Purpose/Objective: This study aims to analyze the regional distribution of radiotherapy treatments funded by Chile's public health insurer insurance (FONASA) from 2018 to 2022. We examined differences among regions and between public and private radiotherapy providers to identify geographic disparities and assess the role of each sector in radiotherapy provision. Material/Methods: This is a descriptive, cross-sectional, non-experimental study analyzing administrative data on radiotherapy treatments funded by FONASA between 2018 and 2022. Data were stratified by public and private providers and adjusted according to the total FONASA-insured population per region based on the most recent data available in the series. Results: From 2018 to 2022, 54,315 radiotherapy treatments were delivered to FONASA-insured patients, of which 73.08% were performed in public facilities and 26.92% in private centers. National production increased by 37% during this period, but growth was uneven: private sector treatments rose by 140%, while public sector treatments increased by only 13%. In 2018, the private sector accounted for 19.19% of all treatments, rising to 32.52% by 2022 (Fig 1). Fig. 1. Evolution of public and private radiotherapy services for patients insured by FONASA, Chile, 2018–2022