Quality Assurance, Metrics, and Improving Standards in Rectal Cancer Surgery in the United States

Rectal cancer surgery has seen significant improvement in recent years. This has been possible in part due to focus on surgeon education and training, specific surgical quality metrics, and longitudinal tracking of data through the use of registries. In countries that have implemented such efforts,...

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Main Authors: Zhaomin Xu, Fergal J. Fleming
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2020-04-01
Series:Frontiers in Oncology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fonc.2020.00655/full
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spelling doaj-1c8f492dee2a455aada69c0a103d996f2020-11-25T03:49:38ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Oncology2234-943X2020-04-011010.3389/fonc.2020.00655518893Quality Assurance, Metrics, and Improving Standards in Rectal Cancer Surgery in the United StatesZhaomin XuFergal J. FlemingRectal cancer surgery has seen significant improvement in recent years. This has been possible in part due to focus on surgeon education and training, specific surgical quality metrics, and longitudinal tracking of data through the use of registries. In countries that have implemented such efforts, data has shown significant improvement in outcomes. However, there continues to be significant variation in rectal cancer outcomes and practices worldwide. Just within the United States, county level mortality rates from rectal cancer range from 8–15 per 100,000 to 38–59 per 100,000. In order to continue to improve rectal cancer patient outcomes, there needs to be evidence based guidelines and standards centered around the framework of structure, process, and outcomes. In addition, there must be a feedback system by which programs can continually assess their performance. Obtaining evidence for specific standards and measures can be challenging and requires analyzing available data and literature, some of which may be conflicting. This article evaluates the evolution of metrics and standards used for quality improvement in rectal cancer and ongoing efforts to further improve patient outcomes.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fonc.2020.00655/fullcolorectal cancercolorectal neoplasmsquality improvementsurgical outcomespatient-reported outcomes
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Zhaomin Xu
Fergal J. Fleming
spellingShingle Zhaomin Xu
Fergal J. Fleming
Quality Assurance, Metrics, and Improving Standards in Rectal Cancer Surgery in the United States
Frontiers in Oncology
colorectal cancer
colorectal neoplasms
quality improvement
surgical outcomes
patient-reported outcomes
author_facet Zhaomin Xu
Fergal J. Fleming
author_sort Zhaomin Xu
title Quality Assurance, Metrics, and Improving Standards in Rectal Cancer Surgery in the United States
title_short Quality Assurance, Metrics, and Improving Standards in Rectal Cancer Surgery in the United States
title_full Quality Assurance, Metrics, and Improving Standards in Rectal Cancer Surgery in the United States
title_fullStr Quality Assurance, Metrics, and Improving Standards in Rectal Cancer Surgery in the United States
title_full_unstemmed Quality Assurance, Metrics, and Improving Standards in Rectal Cancer Surgery in the United States
title_sort quality assurance, metrics, and improving standards in rectal cancer surgery in the united states
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
series Frontiers in Oncology
issn 2234-943X
publishDate 2020-04-01
description Rectal cancer surgery has seen significant improvement in recent years. This has been possible in part due to focus on surgeon education and training, specific surgical quality metrics, and longitudinal tracking of data through the use of registries. In countries that have implemented such efforts, data has shown significant improvement in outcomes. However, there continues to be significant variation in rectal cancer outcomes and practices worldwide. Just within the United States, county level mortality rates from rectal cancer range from 8–15 per 100,000 to 38–59 per 100,000. In order to continue to improve rectal cancer patient outcomes, there needs to be evidence based guidelines and standards centered around the framework of structure, process, and outcomes. In addition, there must be a feedback system by which programs can continually assess their performance. Obtaining evidence for specific standards and measures can be challenging and requires analyzing available data and literature, some of which may be conflicting. This article evaluates the evolution of metrics and standards used for quality improvement in rectal cancer and ongoing efforts to further improve patient outcomes.
topic colorectal cancer
colorectal neoplasms
quality improvement
surgical outcomes
patient-reported outcomes
url https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fonc.2020.00655/full
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