Feasibility and acceptability of FinCare: A personalized online tool for estimating out-of-pocket costs for cancer treatment.

Authors

Carolyn Y Fang, Amani Boudriga, Amine Raounak, Howard Isenstein, Brian L Egleston, Erin Tagai, Melissa McShane, Efrat Dotan, Daniel M Geynisman

Published in

Digital health. Volume 12. Pages 20552076261468487. Epub Jul 14, 2026.

Abstract

Patients with cancer need to make complex treatment decisions that weigh benefit, risk, and increasingly, treatment costs. Although patients desire to have information about out-of-pocket (OOP) spending to help inform such decisions, individualized OOP cost information is rarely discussed in clinical practice and often difficult for patients to access. FinCare, an online tool for generating patient-specific OOP cost estimates, was developed to address this gap. This pilot study evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of FinCare among patients receiving cancer therapy.
Patients (n=10) beginning a new cancer therapy regimen were recruited to provide feedback and input. Participants' treatment and insurance information were entered into FinCare to generate individualized OOP cost estimates. After reviewing the report, participants rated its usefulness and their satisfaction with this online tool. Secondary outcomes of financial toxicity and anxiety were also assessed.
FinCare successfully generated individualized monthly OOP estimates for all participants (range: $0-$2172.34/month). Acceptability was high, with 80%-90% endorsing its ease of use and high satisfaction with the information received. Qualitative comments indicated that participants found the information to be clear and helpful for planning. Receipt of individualized cost information did not result in significant changes in financial toxicity or anxiety.
FinCare was feasible to implement and acceptable to patients starting a new cancer regimen. Receipt of individualized OOP cost estimates was reported to be useful and did not increase participant anxiety. Study findings, however, are limited by the small sample of patients from a single insurer and a single academic institution. Future studies comprised of larger, more diverse patient populations from multiple insurer groups and centers are warranted to demonstrate the broader feasibility and utility of this tool.

PMID:
42460161
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 16 Jul 2026.

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