INTRODUCTION: Integrated care pathways (ICPs) have been proposed as effective strategies for quality improvement. To date, limited data are available that detail the methodology to design an optimal care pathway for patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The main aim of this study was to assess the quality of health care delivered to lung cancer patients referred to a hub university hospital. METHODS: All professionals involved with the management of NSCLC patients, in cooperation with health care researchers, identified 11 quality indicators and associated benchmarks. These were used to estimate the quality and efficiency of health care delivered to a cohort of 175 NSCLC patients. RESULTS: The gap between "desired" and "actual" performance has been measured by benchmarking current practice against key quality indicators. Diagnostic workup, multidisciplinary team care and medical treatment of advanced disease have emerged as areas of good performance. Conversely, the management of early-stage disease offers room for improvement, in terms of both accuracy of nodal staging and surgical timeliness. CONCLUSIONS: Analyzing the process of caring for NSCLC patients is feasible and offers room for improvement. Acquired knowledge may be shared with hospital administrators, guide the revision of ICPs, and enable the delivery of consistent, high-quality clinical standards.
INTRODUCTION: Integrated care pathways (ICPs) have been proposed as effective strategies for quality improvement. To date, limited data are available that detail the methodology to design an optimal care pathway for patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The main aim of this study was to assess the quality of health care delivered to lung cancerpatients referred to a hub university hospital. METHODS: All professionals involved with the management of NSCLCpatients, in cooperation with health care researchers, identified 11 quality indicators and associated benchmarks. These were used to estimate the quality and efficiency of health care delivered to a cohort of 175 NSCLCpatients. RESULTS: The gap between "desired" and "actual" performance has been measured by benchmarking current practice against key quality indicators. Diagnostic workup, multidisciplinary team care and medical treatment of advanced disease have emerged as areas of good performance. Conversely, the management of early-stage disease offers room for improvement, in terms of both accuracy of nodal staging and surgical timeliness. CONCLUSIONS: Analyzing the process of caring for NSCLCpatients is feasible and offers room for improvement. Acquired knowledge may be shared with hospital administrators, guide the revision of ICPs, and enable the delivery of consistent, high-quality clinical standards.
Authors: Akash Verma; Albert Y H Lim; Dessmon Y H Tai; Soon Keng Goh; Ai Ching Kor; Dokeu Basheer A A; Akhil Chopra; John Abisheganaden Journal: Medicine (Baltimore) Date: 2015-07 Impact factor: 1.817
Authors: Jon R Pluyter; Igor Jacobs; Sander Langereis; David Cobben; Sharon Williams; Jeannine Curfs; Ben van den Borne Journal: Transl Lung Cancer Res Date: 2020-08