The effect of guidelines, policy initiatives, and feedback tools on hospital adherence with the 12-node measure for colon cancer.

Abstract

65 Background: Examination of > = 12 lymph nodes after colectomy is one of few surgical process measures. Several initiatives have targeted this measure; one tool developed by the Commission on Cancer (CoC) provides benchmarked feedback on hospital performance (CP3R). Our objectives were to (1) examine changes in measure performance over time in response to guidelines, policy initiatives, and feedback, and (2) identify hospital characteristics associated with failure to improve adherence. Methods: Patients having surgery for Stage I-III colon cancer (1990-2010) were identified from the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB). For hospital-level analyses, NCDB and American Hospital Association (2010) data were merged. Hospital CP3R use was obtained from the user log system. Multivariable logistic regression adjusted for age and tumor factors was used to identify hospital characteristics associated with adherence in 2009-2010 (> = 12 nodes in > 80% of patients). Results: The percentage of patients with > = 12 nodes removed increased from 31.5% in 1990 to 84.1% in 2010 (p < 0.0001). The percentage of adherent hospitals increased from 2.2% in 1990 to 70% in 2010 (p < 0.0001). The steepest increase in adherence occurred with introduction of CP3R. Median CP3R use increased from 5 to 57 logins annually (2005-2010). Hospital predictors of poor adherence included low volume, community hospital type, private ownership, rural location, and lower number of specialists (Table). Conclusions: Guidelines, policy initiatives, and feedback tools have helped dramatically increase adherence with the 12-node measure, but small, non-academic hospitals have been slower to improve. Additional efforts are needed to understand barriers and improve adherence at these facilities. [Table: see text]