NEWS

Report Offers Guidance to Georgia In Measuring Quality, Progress in Cancer Care

Charles Marwick

Georgia is using some of the almost $5 billion the state received from the 1998 master settlement with the tobacco industry to fund a major effort in cancer prevention, treatment, and research. The end result promises a national model for measuring the quality of cancer care.

"Other states have used their money for cancer research, [such as] Pennsylvania. But this is unique. This is the first time a project like this has been done by the [Institute of Medicine (IOM)]. I don't think there is any other," said Joseph V. Simone, M.D.



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Joseph V. Simone

 
Simone is chair of a committee formed by the IOM in 2003 at the request of the Georgia Cancer Coalition (GCC), a group of policy makers, physicians, and members of the public. The IOM committee was asked to advise the GCC on developing an information infrastructure and reporting system that could be used to gauge the coalition's progress in improving the quality of its cancer-related services and in reducing morbidity and mortality from cancer with the goal of bringing high-quality cancer care to everyone in the state. The committee's report, "Assessing the Quality of Cancer Care: An Approach to Measurement in Georgia," was published in April.

Like the patterns in the United States as a whole, more than half of the cancer cases and deaths in Georgia occur in four main types—breast, colon and rectum, prostate, and lung. (See Stat Bite, p. 793.) Limiting its review to these cancers, the IOM committee came up with 52 measures that cover prevention, early detection, diagnosis, and treatment. The report examines each of these measures in detail.

Overall, the report notes that evaluating patients' experiences is critical to assessing the quality of care. The group recommended that Georgia expand and enhance its cancer information system to include a patient survey program and a system for the collection and analysis of data that will yield insights into how best to address the racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in cancer management.

At the same time, outcomes will not improve unless an effort is made to reduce the disparities in behaviors and environmental conditions that lead to cancer, the report warns. As it implements the IOM recommendations, the GCC should remember that the purpose of monitoring the quality of cancer care is not only to evaluate progress but also to motivate change, the report noted.

The coalition gets l8% of the tobacco settlement funds annually. This is matched by private donations. The GCC will use the settlement funds to implement the IOM's recommendations, said Nancy Paris, the GCC's vice president. "There was a recognition that this money should be used for the benefit of Georgians who had suffered from the ill effects of tobacco, for instance. There was a clarion call to do something different, to put Georgia on the map," she said.

"When we began looking at data and opportunities and needs, we realized that we did not have in place some of the fundamental things the state needed to be successful; for instance, a comprehensive cancer center and a real research base—a cadre of scientists, clinicians, and researchers who are going to move us into the 21st century," Paris continued. "The IOM's report will help us create a roadmap to indicate where we need to invest and also to let others know where [the investments] are beginning to pay off."



             
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