In 2004, 1.3 million men and women in the United States will develop cancer. An Institute of Medicine report concluded that “for many Americans with cancer, there is a wide gulf between what could be construed as the ideal and the reality of their experience with cancer care”. Unfortunately, despite the considerable advances in the diagnosis, treatment, and palliation of life-threatening tumors, some patients will receive sub-optimal care that leads to a loss of years of life, decreased quality of life, and the placing of an unnecessarily increased burden on their families and communities. A significant first step to improve these deficiencies would be consensus on a standardized set of performance measures to assess the quality of cancer care. Implementation of consensus standards for cancer care would provide critical information for both public accountability and internal quality improvement.
This project will:
Support for this project has been provided by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For more information, contact Del Conyers, at 202.783.1300 or info@qualityforum.org.
* During phase I of this project, the Steering Committee identified seven priority areas: access to care/clinical trials/cultural competence; diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer; diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer; communication and coordination of care [including information technology issues]; prevention/screening; diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer; symptom management/end-of-life care. As its first task for phase II, three areas have been identified for initial consideration.