2017 International Interest in ASCO Quality Programs

ASCO Quality Programs Background

Please review the background of ASCO's quality programs below along with how the programs work.

To help us to understand the potential value and interest in QOPI, QOPI Certification, and the Quality Training Program outside the United States, we ask you to read this background material and answer a few questions.

Background

As you may know, ASCO offers a number of innovative quality improvement programs and promotes the value of quality cancer care.

QOPI®: The Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) was designed by a group of ASCO-affiliated medical oncologists as a voluntary program to assess and improve processes of care in oncology practices, and over the past 10 years 780 practices in the United States have participated. ASCO is working to make these quality programs available outside the United States. QOPI is currently available in the following countries: all countries in the European Union, Argentina, Brazil, India, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, and we plan to continue to add to this list of countries in the future.

QOPI provides a system for practices to measure their care processes against established measures of care quality using abstracted medical records. These measures are based on ASCO guidelines and expert consensus. A practice submits a limited data set of medical records to the QOPI database using a structured, secure online patient report form.

ASCO analyzes the results and report the findings back to the practice. By participating in QOPI, oncology practices receive reports that compare their practice with more than 180 established measures of cancer care quality. These measures are based on ASCO guidelines and expert consensus. The analyzed QOPI quality reports are the primary benefit of QOPI participation. Reports are available within 4 weeks of the close of data collection, so practices can use data received for targeted improvement. For each quality measure, reports detail practice-specific data (and office-specific data, if collected at multiple sites) and comparative aggregate data.

Participation in QOPI is currently free of charge, but limited to practices with at least one active ASCO member. We are currently working on agreements to expand QOPI participation to other regions, including India and South America which requires a legal privacy review and a country specific agreement as well as a number of interested practices in the same country. The questions in this survey will help us determine when/if we can offer QOPI® to you.

QOPI Certification (QCP™): At this time we are unable to offer QOPI® Certification in all countries where QOPI® is available.

In order to promote the highest quality cancer care at the practice level, ASCO launched its Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) Certification Program, an enhancement to QOPI, ASCO’s flagship quality improvement program for outpatient hematology-oncology practices. Currently, ASCO is only offering QOPI Certification on a pilot basis in a limited number of countries as part of a strategic initiative to assess where and how ASCO can make QOPI Certification available.

QOPI Certification is designed for those practices that have been performing at a high level. In order to achieve QOPI Certification, a hematology-oncology practice must meet scoring requirements on 26 QOPI chart abstraction measures and demonstrate, through an on-site survey, compliance with 20 structural quality standards related to consistent expectations for patient safety across diverse settings providing chemotherapy. All program requirements are posted on QOPI.ASCO.org in order to provide full transparency.

The QOPI Certification Program provides 3-year certification for outpatient hematology-oncology practices. The application process for the QOPI Certification Program (for which there is a cost based on ASCO expenses related to certifying your practice) is now open in Greece, Brazil, and Spain. The questions in this survey will help us determine when/if we can offer QOPI® Certification to your practice. QOPI Certification requires significant resources and we are not able to accommodate all requests.

Quality Training Program: As the leading oncology quality improvement (QI) course, ASCO’s Quality Training Program empowers practice teams to improve clinical care and operational performance. The program prepares oncology providers to design, implement, and lead successful QI activities in busy practice settings. ASCO's program was developed by oncologists and oncology care specialists for oncology practice teams.

The Quality Training Program (QTP) includes access to renowned faculty and coaches during 5 focused days of in-person learning over 6 months. QTP is expanding this program internationally with a train the trainer model. To learn more visit: https://www.asco.org/training-education/professional-development/quality-training-program or contact qualitytraining@asco.org.