The quality of breast cancer quality measures.

Abstract

108 Background: To assess quality in breast cancer care, standardized metrics are needed. Many accepted breast performance metrics are based on evidence-based practice; however, most fail to reflect patient choice in treatment decisions. Given the focus on patient-centered breast care, we sought to determine how compliance with established quality metrics correlates with receipt of breast cancer care impacted by patient preference. Methods: American College of Surgeons (ACS) National Cancer Data Base facilities were designated compliant or non-compliant based on Commission of Cancer (CoC) breast metrics MASTRT, BCSRT and HT*, which all improve survival. Compliant facilities met the expected performance rate (EPR) for all three metrics, while non-compliant facilities failed to meet the EPR for any. Rates of breast conserving surgery (BCS) for early stage cancer, immediate breast reconstruction (IBR), and contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) are proposed metrics that are impacted by patient preference. For these, quality is defined as high rates of BCS, high rates of IBR, and low rates of CPM. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate the association between facility level rates on these measures and the probability of treatment at a CoC compliant facility. Results: 729 facilities were included in the analysis. Based on the CoC measures, 79 (10.8%) were considered compliant and 650 (89.2%) non-compliant. Rates of BCS and IBR did not differ between compliant and non-compliant facilities; however, women treated at compliant facilities were more likely to undergo CPM (26.3% vs 21.4%; p = 0.02). In a multivariate model treatment at compliant facilities was associated with higher rates of BCS, IBR, and CPM; however, the predictive value of these metrics was minimal (Estimated OR range: 1.01-1.03). Conclusions: Rates of preference driven therapies do not differentiate CoC compliant and non-compliant hospitals. The quality of a hospital’s breast care is likely poorly measured by metrics that are influenced by, but cannot account for patient values. *MASTRT (RT≤1yr of diagnosis in women with ≥4 +lymph nodes); BCSRT (RT ≤1yr of diagnosis for women ≤70 receiving BCS); HT (hormone therapy recommended ≤1yr of diagnosis for HR-positive breast cancer)