Improving quality of pediatric oncology care via ASCO’s Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI) program.

Abstract

212 Background: Pediatric oncologists strive to provide a high quality of care for their patients. American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) developed the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI) Program which serves to evaluate institution’s best oncology practices. The program evaluates Core Measures in Disease Modules and Domain Modules. The Disease Modules were not useful in a pediatric practice, however, the Core Measures and Domain Modules were appropriate for evaluating pediatric quality care. Methods: Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center Pediatric Oncology participated in the QOPI Spring 2012 Collection. Thirty-five member charts were audited by a registered nurse case manager via the electronic medical record (EMR) for Symptom/Toxicity Management, Care at End of Life, and Core Measures modules over the course of six weeks. Results: Data results revealed areas that needed improvement at LAMC included oncologist’s documentation of chemotherapy treatment and consent, physician and nurse documentation of chemotherapy and disease education, documentation of oral chemotherapy adherence and documentation of fertility preservation. Only two pediatric end-of-life cases met requirements for abstraction during this round of audit. Chart audits were easily abstracted from EMR. The QOPI computer program was easy to use and concise with information and guidelines for measures to be abstracted. QOPI personnel were readily available for any problems or concerns. Conclusions: Participation in the ASCO QOPI Program can serve as a tool to help improve oncology institution’s best practices. The QOPI Program could further expand its disease modules to include more pediatric content such as acute leukemia and neuro-oncology. In addition, participation in this program offers 3-year certification for outpatient hematology-oncology practices (limited to internal medicine at this time) and could serve as your Part IV Maintenance of Certification (limited to internal medicine).