Improving the timeliness of written patient notification of mammography results by mammography centers.

Timely reporting of mammogram results helps to reduce anxiety for women with negative results and speeds up diagnosis or treatment in the case of abnormal results. The goal of this project was to improve the rate at which Virginia mammography centers provide a written report to women in lay terms within 30 days of a mammogram. The project included six intervention and five control mammography centers.

Collaborative Initiatives in the Care of Early Stage Breast Cancer: Reduction in Variation of Breast-Conserving Therapy.

Breast-conserving therapy (BCT) has survival results comparable to those obtained with modified radical mastectomy (MST). However, studies suggest variations in the rates of breast-conserving therapy that are not explained by comorbidities or age. The Virginia Health Quality Center collaborated with 40 Virginia hospitals to address patterns of breast cancer treatment.

Red blood cell transfusions for elective hip and knee arthroplasty: opportunity to improve quality of care and documentation.

Objectives: To assess current practice for red blood cell transfusion relative to the American College of Physicians guideline for red blood cell transfusion; to determine comparative rates and relative appropriateness of autologous versus allogeneic blood use; and, to assess cost implications of current transfusion practices.

Design: Computerized quality-of-care algorithm applied retrospectively to medical-record and blood-bank data.

Setting: Twenty-six hospitals in Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Virginia.

Variation in the use of breast-conserving therapy for Medicare beneficiaries in Virginia: clinical, geographic, and hospital characteristics.

Background: Treatment for early-stage breast cancer has evolved significantly in recent years. Breast-conserving therapy (BCT) has been shown to offer equivalent survival compared to traditional mastectomy. However, there is marked variation in the performance of BCT which may not reflect clinical appropriateness or patient preference.