1. A disease-based evaluation of lung cancer care quality in a community healthcare system
- Author
-
Alicia Pacheco, Samantha Parker, Edward T. Robbins, Shailesh R. Satpute, Courtney Berryman, William R. Walsh, Anita Patel, Nicholas Faris, Meghan Brooke Taylor, Keith Tokin, Rob Optican, Philip E. Lammers, Raymond U. Osarogiagbon, Jeffrey Wright, Matthew P. Smeltzer, Meredith Ray, Carrie Fehnel, Laura McHugh, Roy Fox, and Penny Kershner
- Subjects
Cancer Research ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Quality management ,Lesion detection ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,business.industry ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Disease ,medicine.disease ,Oncology ,Biopsy ,medicine ,Quality (business) ,Radiology ,business ,Lung cancer ,media_common ,Healthcare system - Abstract
251 Background: Lung cancer care is complex, but, for quality improvement, can be simplified into five ‘nodal points’: lesion detection, diagnostic biopsy, radiologic staging, invasive staging, and treatment. We previously demonstrated great heterogeneity in passage through these nodal points in patients who received surgical resection for lung cancer in our healthcare system. However, examining only surgical patients may underestimate the enormity of the opportunity for quality improvement. With the aim of identifying quality gaps in pre-treatment evaluation for lung cancer, we evaluated the flow of care through these nodal points within a community-based healthcare system. Methods: We classified lung cancer care procedures received by all suspected lung cancer patients treated within the Multidisciplinary Thoracic Oncology Program at Baptist Cancer Center, Memphis TN between 2014 and 2019, into five nodal points. We compared the frequency of, and time intervals between, nodal points among patients receiving surgical, nonsurgical (chemotherapy/radiation), or no definitive treatment, using Chi-square or Kruskal Wallis tests, where appropriate. Results: Of 1304 eligible patients: 11% had no pre-treatment diagnostic procedure, 20% no PET/CT, and 39% no invasive staging. 39% of patients underwent surgical resection, 51% received non-surgical treatment, and 10% received no treatment. Patients who had surgery were less likely than those who had non-surgical treatment to get a diagnostic test, radiologic staging, and invasive staging (Table). Patients who had non-surgical treatment were more likely to pass through all five nodal points (50% v 68%, p
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF