2023-08-07 09:50:45
The new president of the ECO Foundation (Excellence and Quality in Oncology), Dr. Jesús García-Foncillas, outlines in this article the steps that oncology must take to improve its quality in patient care.
Dr. García-Foncillas is Professor of Oncology at the Autonomous University of Madrid and director of the Department of Oncology at the “Fundación Jiménez Díaz” University Hospital. He has been awarded the 2020 National Prize of the Royal Academy of Medicine, to which he belongs, and is the author of more than 300 articles and numerous specialized books. In this article he focuses his analysis on quality in oncology.
The path to quality in oncology
Doctor Jesús García-Foncillas, President of the ECO Foundation
Measuring the quality of care in centers has become an essential requirement in order to improve oncology services.
Given the constant advancement of science and the irruption of new techniques, devices and treatments, it is essential to define indicators that make it possible to objectively ensure quality, safety and sustainability in the care of cancer patients.
The objective is to determine that those standards that demonstrate a real improvement in the patient’s experience and in their chances of cure are met.
In this sense, the promotion of programs that certify the quality of cancer care is helping to standardize indicators and facilitate equivalence between hospital centers.
In other words, to translate the best practices into the same language. Given the need and willingness of centers to achieve and update excellence in cancer care, from the ECO Foundation We have recognized for several years those oncology services that are governed by high quality criteria with the QOPI seal, issued in collaboration with the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO, for its acronym in English).
Our country currently has 13 accredited centers with this certification.
In addition, we also provide help and advice to those centers that want to be accredited through a certification program to this. Through these training courses, we have been able to verify that national oncology is on a par with North American hospitals.
As experts in the approach to cancer, continuous improvement in care must be based on comparison with the leaders in this field.
Seals of excellence in the quality of oncology
The issuance of oncology excellence seals allows centers to self-assess the quality of their services and avoid variability in healthcare (due to disparity in financial, technical or human resources, among others).
These certifications test a series of measurements that allow drawing conclusions and enriching clinical decisions throughout the entire care process, through the harmonization and improvement of oncology standards.
Among other aspects, these seals evaluate the education of health professionals, the quality of chemotherapy prescription and drug preparation, patient training or the monitoring and evaluation of the well-being of patients.
In addition, and taking into account the inequities between autonomous communities regarding the approach and treatment of cancer, these certifications make it possible to detect strong points and possible areas for improvement.
The centers’ commitment to measuring the quality of care is also reflected in the recent accreditation of Vall d’Hebron as a comprehensive cancer care center (CCC).
This hospital has become the first Spanish center to achieve this recognition, which values the multidisciplinary approach to cancer through different specialties, research, cancer patient monitoring, the organization of quality systems or governance.
European Plan to Fight Cancer
The European Commission, through the European Plan to Fight Cancer, has among its main challenges establishing networks of comprehensive cancer centers by the year 2025, with the aim that 90% of patients have access to them by 2030.
The creation of this network of certified centers will serve to provide patients with quality diagnosis and treatment, as well as to reduce inequality of access between Member States and between regions.
This plan seeks to avoid the increase in the incidence of cancer at the community level through a new integrated and collaborative approach between countries, supported by centers of accredited solvency in cancer treatment.
Given this perspective, we must be clear that we cannot go anywhere alone. It is necessary that Spain join the community initiatives to overcome cancer and that we place the patient at the center, who is directly affected by the improvement in the quality of care: by reducing waiting times or increasing security controls or flow of information about disease and treatment.
Measuring quality in oncology: a challenge
One of the challenges is the development and measurement of quality indicators that help us discover the best clinical practices and learn from them. Not only to value quality at a technical level, but also the quality perceived by people.
In short, the measurement of the quality of care should be a maxim for all of us who intend to approach excellence for the benefit of patients. Let’s do it for them.
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