[Organization of care for patients with urinary bladder cancer in the Russian Federation and approaches to its improvement based on standardization of a diagnostic and therapeutic process].

Present-day medical facilities for treating patients with cancer of the urinary bladder in the Russian Federation (RF) are insufficient. In 1998, urological cancer in RF was managed only in 31 specialized departments working in 24 of 89 (27%) administrative units of the RF. In the other 65 (73%) units only urologists deal with diagnosis and treatment of urinary bladder cancer. These nonspecialized departments lack special equipment and personnel. Therefore, effective management and organization of medical care for urinary bladder cancer can be achieved on the basis of standardization of diagnostic and therapeutic methods and definition of stages in treatment policy. This helps to outline priorities in financing health services.