Health-Care Metrics in Oncology

Health-Care Metrics in Oncology

© 2015 Harborside Press® In 1986, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) set out to define health care in terms of quality. Its goal was to establish standards for desired health outcomes that were consistent with current professional knowledge (Donaldson & Lohr, 1990). It has become apparent, however, that variability in the quality of cancer care exists across the United States (Desch, 2008; Hewitt ...

Vital Signs: Core Metrics for Health and Health Care Progress.

Management of health-care--associated infections in the oncology patient.

Each year, 2.4 million patients in the United States develop health-care--associated infections (HAIs), requiring treatment at an annual cost of approximately $4.5 billion. HAI is the primary cause of death in approximately 30,000 patients and contributes to the death of 70,000 annually. Oncology patients are more susceptible than other patients to HAIs due to compromised immune systems, surger...

Pharmacogenomics in oncology care

Cancer pharmacogenomics have contributed a number of important discoveries to current cancer treatment, changing the paradigm of treatment decisions. Both somatic and germline mutations are utilized to better understand the underlying biology of cancer growth and treatment response. The level of evidence required to fully translate pharmacogenomic discoveries into the clinic has relied heavily ...

Integrating pain metrics into oncology clinical trials.

Cancer-related pain is highly prevalent and often severe, and as a result is often one of the defining experiences for patients with malignancy. Patients and patients' families almost always live with the ever-present reality that cancer treatment and progression may be accompanied by pain. For patients nearing the end of life, most fear that their final days will be spent living with the terri...