Improving Goal Concordant Care Among 10 Leading Academic U.S. Cancer Hospitals: A Collaboration of the Alliance of Dedicated Cancer Centers.

This commentary is a call to action: that all patients with cancer and their families should receive care that aligns with their values and unique priorities. This is the vision of the Improving Goal Concordant Care (IGCC) Initiative, convened by the Alliance of Dedicated Cancer Centers (ADCC).

Performance Measures Based on How Adults With Cancer Feel and Function: Stakeholder Recommendations and Feasibility Testing in Six Cancer Centers.

Purpose: Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) that assess how patients feel and function have potential for evaluating quality of care. Stakeholder recommendations for PRO-based performance measures (PMs) were elicited, and feasibility testing was conducted at six cancer centers.

Methods: Interviews were conducted with 124 stakeholders to determine priority symptoms and risk adjustment variables for PRO-PMs and perceived acceptability.

Role of Adverse Events in Unscheduled Hospitalizations Among Patients With Solid Tumors Who Receive Medical Oncology Treatment.

Purpose: The development of strategies to prevent or mitigate cancer treatment-related adverse events (AEs) is necessary to improve patient experience, safety, and cost containment. To develop a strategy to easily identify and mitigate AEs, we sought to understand the frequency and severity of those that resulted in hospitalizations.

Methods: We retrospectively characterized hospitalizations of ambulatory adult patients with solid tumor cancers within 30 days of chemotherapy administration using medical record data abstraction.

Cost and Survival Analysis Before and After Implementation of Dana-Farber Clinical Pathways for Patients With Stage IV Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.

Purpose: Increasing costs and medical complexity are significant challenges in modern oncology. We explored the use of clinical pathways to support clinical decision making and manage resources prospectively across our network.

Materials And Methods: We created customized lung cancer pathways and partnered with a commercial vendor to provide a Web-based platform for real-time decision support and post-treatment data aggregation.

2016 Updated American Society of Clinical Oncology/Oncology Nursing Society Chemotherapy Administration Safety Standards, Including Standards for Pediatric Oncology.

Purpose: To update the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)/Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) Chemotherapy Administration Safety Standards and to highlight standards for pediatric oncology.

Methods: The ASCO/ONS Chemotherapy Administration Safety Standards were first published in 2009 and updated in 2011 to include inpatient settings. A subsequent 2013 revision expanded the standards to include the safe administration and management of oral chemotherapy.

2016 Updated American Society of Clinical Oncology/Oncology Nursing Society Chemotherapy Administration Safety Standards, Including Standards for Pediatric Oncology.

Purpose To update the ASCO/Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) Chemotherapy Administration Safety Standards and to highlight standards for pediatric oncology. Methods The ASCO/ONS Chemotherapy Administration Safety Standards were first published in 2009 and updated in 2011 to include inpatient settings. A subsequent 2013 revision expanded the standards to include the safe administration and management of oral chemotherapy.

Characteristics Associated with In-Hospital Death among Commercially Insured Decedents with Cancer.

Background: A majority of patients with poor-prognosis cancer express a preference for in-home death; however, in-hospital deaths are common.

Objective: We sought to identify characteristics associated with in-hospital death.

Design: Case series.

Defining High-Quality Palliative Care in Oncology Practice: An American Society of Clinical Oncology/American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine Guidance Statement.

Purpose: Integrated into routine oncology care, palliative care can improve symptom burden, quality of life, and patient and caregiver satisfaction. However, not all oncology practices have access to specialist palliative medicine. This project endeavored to define what constitutes high-quality primary palliative care as delivered by medical oncology practices.

Novel Data Sharing Between a Comprehensive Cancer Center and a Private Payer to Better Understand Care at the End of Life.

Context: Understanding end-of-life (EOL) care patterns is a prerequisite to improving the experience for cancer patients. EOL measures endorsed by the National Quality Forum (NQF) have been examined in older patients using Medicare claims.

Objectives: To evaluate EOL care for patients treated at a comprehensive cancer center, using private payer claims data.

ReCAP: Feasibility and Effectiveness of a Pilot Program to Facilitate Quality Improvement Learning in Oncology: Experience of the American Society of Clinical Oncology Quality Training Program.

Purpose: Studies have demonstrated that structured training programs can improve health professionals' skills in performing clinical care or research. We sought to develop and test a novel quality training program (QTP) tailored to oncology clinicians.

Methods: The American Society of Clinical Oncology QTP consisted of three in-person learning sessions and four phases: prework, planning, implementation, and sustain and spread.

Patient-reported outcome performance measures in oncology.

Patient self-reporting affords the opportunity to better understand the impact of care processes on how patients feel.

High-priority topics for cancer quality measure development: results of the 2012 American Society of Clinical Oncology Collaborative Cancer Measure Summit.

Purpose: Most cancer quality measures focus on individual cancers, assess specific providers, and evaluate processes of care. Although important, these efforts are not sufficient. A more comprehensive measure set is needed to address gaps in care, focus on patients rather than providers, and assess the cross-cutting aspects of care that are relevant to all patients with cancer throughout the trajectory of their illness.

Qualitative analysis of practicing oncologists' attitudes and experiences regarding collection of patient-reported outcomes.

Purpose: There is growing interest in incorporating routine collection of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) into cancer care. Practicing oncologists are a stakeholder group whose views are not well characterized.

Methods: We developed an interview guide after literature review and in-depth interviews with leaders in the field.

2013 updated American Society of Clinical Oncology/Oncology Nursing Society chemotherapy administration safety standards including standards for the safe administration and management of oral chemotherapy.

In 2009, ASCO and the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) published standards for the safe use of parenteral chemotherapy in the outpatient setting, including issues of practitioner orders, preparation, and administration of medication. In 2011, these were updated to include inpatient facilities. In December 2011, a multistakeholder workgroup met to address the issues associated with orally administered antineoplastics, under the leadership of ASCO and ONS.

2013 updated American Society of Clinical Oncology/Oncology Nursing Society chemotherapy administration safety standards including standards for the safe administration and management of oral chemotherapy.

In 2009, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) published standards for the safe use of parenteral chemotherapy in the outpatient setting, including issues of practitioner orders, preparation, and administration of medication. In 2011, these were updated to include inpatient facilities. In December 2011, a multistakeholder workgroup met to address the issues associated with orally administered antineoplastics, under the leadership of ASCO and ONS.

Evolution and elements of the quality oncology practice initiative measure set.

Background: Over the past 5 years, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has supported the development of a Web-based quality-reporting tool in response to a recognized need to provide medical oncologists the opportunity to demonstrate the quality of care that they are providing to patients.

Methods: The development of quality measures, their basis in the literature, and the descriptions and organizational structure of the measures are discussed.

Results: Specific results are the property of practices and are not shared outside of the practices except in aggregate.

American Society of Clinical Oncology/Oncology Nursing Society chemotherapy administration safety standards.

Standardization of care can reduce the risk of errors, increase efficiency, and provide a framework for best practice. In 2008, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) invited a broad range of stakeholders to create a set of standards for the administration of chemotherapy to adult patients in the outpatient setting. At the close of a full-day structured workshop, 64 draft standards were proposed.

Quality oncology practice initiative certification program: overview, measure scoring methodology, and site assessment standards.

More than a decade ago, the Institute of Medicine created the National Cancer Policy Board and identified a need to assess national quality of cancer care, generating a cascade of projects, including ASCO's QOPI.

American Society Of Clinical Oncology/Oncology Nursing Society chemotherapy administration safety standards.

Standardization of care can reduce the risk of errors, increase efficiency, and provide a framework for best practice. In 2008, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) invited a broad range of stakeholders to create a set of standards for the administration of chemotherapy to adult patients in the outpatient setting. At the close of a full-day structured workshop, 64 draft standards were proposed.

Implementation of the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative at a university comprehensive cancer center.

Purpose: The Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI) is a voluntary program developed by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) to aid oncology practices in quality self-assessment. Few academic cancer centers have been QOPI participants.

Methods: We implemented the QOPI process at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, a large, hospital-based academic cancer center, and report our experience with five rounds of data collection.