Melanoma outcomes for Medicare patients: association of stage and survival with detection by a dermatologist vs a nondermatologist.

Objective: To determine whether a difference in melanoma outcomes exists in the United States between tumors detected by dermatologists vs those detected by nondermatologists.

Design: Retrospective analysis of linked data from the Medicare enrollment and claims files from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program database from 1991 to 1996. The registries are from 12 US sites.