Quality indicators in radiation oncology: proposal of the Spanish Society of Radiation Oncology (SEOR) for a continuous improvement of the quality of care in oncology

• J. López Torrecilla ^[1] ; S. Marín i Borràs ^[2] ; A. Ruiz-Alonso ^[9] ; J. Jaen Olasolo ^[3] ; M. L. Vázquez de la Torre ^[4] ; E. Bóveda Carro ^[5] ; A. Rodríguez ^[6] ; E. Ignacio García ^[7] ; F. Caballero Martínez ^[10] ; F. J. Campos Lucas ^[10] ; P. C. Lara Jiménez ^[11] ; J. Contreras Martínez ^[8] ; C. Ferrer Albiach ^[12]
  1. [1] Hospital General Universitario de Valencia

     Hospital General Universitario de Valencia

     Valencia, España

     
  2. [2] Hospital Duran i Reynals

     Hospital Duran i Reynals

     Barcelona, España

     
  3. [3] Hospital Universitario Puerta del Mar

     Hospital Universitario Puerta del Mar

     Cádiz, España

     
  4. [4] Hospital do Meixoeiro

     Hospital do Meixoeiro

     Vigo, España

     
  5. [5] Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Biocruces Bizkaia

     Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Biocruces Bizkaia

     Barakaldo, España

     
  6. [6] Hospital Ruber Internacional

     Hospital Ruber Internacional

     Madrid, España

     
  7. [7] Universidad de Cádiz

     Universidad de Cádiz

     Cádiz, España

     
  8. [8] Hospital Regional Universitario de Málaga

     Hospital Regional Universitario de Málaga

     Málaga, España

     
  9. [9] Hospital Universitario Doce de Octubre, Madrid
  10. [10] Francisco de Vitoria University. Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid
  11. [11] Hospital Universitario Dr Negrín, Las Palmas
  12. [12] onsorcio Hospitalario Provincial de Castellón

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• Localización: Clinical & translational oncology, ISSN 1699-048X, Vol. 21, Nº. 4, 2019, págs. 519-533
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Purpose Current cancer treatment options include surgical intervention, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. The quality of the provision of each of them and their effective coordination determines the results in terms of benefit/risk. Regarding the radiation oncology treatments, there are not stabilised quality indicators to be used to perform control and continuous improvement processes for healthcare services. Therefore, the Spanish Society of Radiation Oncology has undertaken a comprehensive project to establish quality indicators for use with the information systems available in most Spanish healthcare services.

    Methods A two-round Delphi study examines consensus of several possible quality indicators (n = 28) in daily practice. These indicators were defined after a bibliographic search and the assessment by radiation oncology specialists (n = 8). They included aspects regarding treatment equipment, patient preparation, treatment, and follow-up processes and were divided in structure, process, and outcome indicators.

    Results After the evaluation of the defined quality indicators (n = 28) by an expert panel (38 radiation oncologist), 26 indicators achieved consensus in terms of agreement with the statement. Two quality indicators did not achieve consensus.

    Conclusions There is a high degree of consensus in Spanish Radiation Oncology specialists on which indicators in routine clinical practice can best measure quality. These indicators can be used to classify services based on several parameters (patients, equipments, complexity of the techniques used, and scientific research). Furthermore, these indicators allow assess our current situation and set improvements’ objectives.