About our program
For patients receiving prostate cancer radiation therapy, there are various treatment options that a treating practitioner may recommend which can help to reduce radiation dose to the rectum. One such option is the use of a rectal spacer that can be used to separate the prostate from the rectum during treatment. Evidence shows that patients who receive treatment with the use of a spacer have reduced rectal toxicity and better quality of life outcomes.1 These outcomes may include preservation of sexual, urinary and bowel function.2
At GenesisCare, eligible privately insured patients receiving treatment for prostate cancer can access spacing procedures with minimal or no out-of-pocket costs other than the excess they pay their private health insurer when making a claim. However, some uninsured patients may not be able to afford the full costs associated with the use of a spacer during treatment.
GenesisCare is partnering with selected private hospitals and the GenesisCare Foundation to offer a compassionate access spacer program to treat certain eligible patients who do not have private health insurance. The GenesisCare Foundation will provide funding for eligible patients who would not ordinarily be able to access the treatment.
For more information, speak to your treating practitioner.
- A person will only be eligible for support under the Project as a Project Beneficiary once GenesisCare confirms that:
- They are appropriately diagnosed and qualified as eligible for the Treatment contemplated for by the Project by an Australian medical practitioner; and
- They do not hold private health insurance that would otherwise reimburse them for at least some of the Treatment contemplated by the Project; and
- They have been referred:
- By a public hospital to GenesisCare specifically to be a part of the Project; or
- Other than by a hospital group or entity subject to or operated by a public-private partnership to GenesisCare; and
- They agree to receive the Treatment in a GenesisCare facility as a private patient.
- Project Beneficiaries will not be required to pay any amount in respect of the provision of the Spacer as part of their Treatment, but, where appropriate, may be required to pay out of pocket fees in relation to their radiotherapy Treatment.
References
1.,2. barrigel.eu/advanced-rectal-spacer/
3. Chapet O, Udrescu C, Devonec M, et al. Prostate hypofractioned radiation therapy: injection of hyaluronic acid to better preserve the rectal wall. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2013;86(1):72–76.