Publications
Publications
- April 2011
- Health Affairs
Improving Cancer Care Through Public Reporting Of Meaningful Quality Measures
By: Tracy E. Spinks, Ronald Walters, Thomas W. Feeley, Heidi Wied Albright, Victoria S. Jordan, John Bingham and Thomas W. Burke
Abstract
Historically, quality measures for cancer have followed a different route than overall quality measures in the health care system. Many specialized cancer treatment centers were exempt from standard reporting on quality measures because of the complexity of cancer. Additionally, it has been difficult to create meaningful quality measures
for cancer because the disease can strike so many different organs; is discovered at and progresses through different stages; and is treated using different modalities, such as surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Over the past decade the National Quality Forum, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bettering the quality of US health care, has
endorsed measures of quality for cancer providers and patients. The Affordable Care Act of 2010, which has sections specific to cancer reporting, will also further the development and public reporting of cancer quality measures—important steps in improving the delivery of cancer care.
Keywords
Cancer; Quality Metrics; Public Reporting; Affordable Care Act; Quality; Health; Health Industry; North and Central America
Citation
Spinks, Tracy E., Ronald Walters, Thomas W. Feeley, Heidi Wied Albright, Victoria S. Jordan, John Bingham, and Thomas W. Burke. "Improving Cancer Care Through Public Reporting Of Meaningful Quality Measures." Health Affairs 30, no. 4 (April 2011): 664–672. (doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0089.)