OBJECTIVES: Bladder cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the United States, and 75%-80% of cases are non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). As the NMIBC treatment landscape evolves, particularly for high-risk (HR) NMIBC, it is necessary to understand current real-world treatment patterns and their clinical implications among HR NMIBC patients. However, studying HR NMIBC with real-world data has several challenges. The data necessary to identify HR NMIBC diagnosis date are unavailable in claims data, and unstructured medical records are lacking in completeness for capturing healthcare utilization and long-term outcomes. Linkage of these complementary data sources may help surmount these challenges. This study will: (1) describe the process of linking abstracted medical record data with administrative claims, and (2) quantify the information added to the study of HR NMIBC by linking these data sources.

METHODS: Individuals ≥18 years old meeting ≥1 American Urologic Association/Society for Urologic Oncology criterion for HR NMIBC between 2011-2020 were selected from participating facilities (n=56 hospitals; n=520 ambulatory clinics) within the Ciox Health network, with 748 HR NMIBC cases confirmed after manual review. HR NMIBC patients were then linked with their associated claims from 2012-2023 within the Komodo Healthcare Map^TM using privacy-preserving tokens.

RESULTS: Of the 748 identified HR NMIBC cases, 740 (99%) could be linked with their claims data. The median age of linked patients was 76 years. Most were male (80%) and non-Hispanic white (79%). Patients with closed claims (47%) had a median enrollment of 6.1 years total and 2.9 years following their first bladder cancer claim. Following their first bladder cancer claim, patients averaged 153 medical encounters, 190 pharmacy encounters, 38 bladder cancer-related encounters, 20 urology encounters, 19 hospitalizations, and 2 emergency visits per person.

CONCLUSIONS: Linking registry data with claims provided in-depth insights into HR NMIBC patients' real-world treatment journeys, healthcare utilization, and outcomes.