Institute for Cancer Care Excellence, MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, Houston, TX, USA.
Health Aff (Millwood). 2011 Apr;30(4):664-72. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0089.
Historically, quality measures for cancer have followed a different route than overall quality measures in the health care system. Many specialized cancer treatment centers were exempt from standard reporting on quality measures because of the complexity of cancer. Additionally, it has been difficult to create meaningful quality measures for cancer because the disease can strike so many different organs; is discovered at and progresses through different stages; and is treated using different modalities, such as surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Over the past decade the National Quality Forum, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bettering the quality of US health care, has endorsed measures of quality for cancer providers and patients. The Affordable Care Act of 2010, which has sections specific to cancer reporting, will also further the development and public reporting of cancer quality measures-important steps in improving the delivery of cancer care.
从历史上看，癌症的质量衡量标准与医疗保健系统中的整体质量衡量标准有所不同。由于癌症的复杂性，许多专门的癌症治疗中心被豁免了关于质量衡量标准的标准报告。此外，由于癌症可能侵袭许多不同的器官，在不同阶段被发现和进展，并且使用不同的治疗方法，如手术、放疗和化疗，因此很难制定有意义的癌症质量衡量标准。在过去的十年中，一个致力于改善美国医疗保健质量的非营利组织——国家质量论坛，已经为癌症提供者和患者认可了质量衡量标准。2010 年的《平价医疗法案》（Affordable Care Act），其中有专门针对癌症报告的部分，也将进一步制定和公开癌症质量衡量标准，这是改善癌症护理的重要步骤。
