The transition from fee-for-service to value-based payment (VBP) drives quality improvement and cost reduction. 1 To ensure VBP programs consider how patients and family caregivers define "high-value" care, stakeholders have advanced the use of quality measures that assess and amplify patient perspectives. 2 Integrating patient voices in VBP is particularly relevant for oncology, where patients are challenged by high symptom burden, psychologic and financial stress, and complicated care pathways. However, incorporating patient perspectives is undermined by barriers, which this paper explores in detail, to implementing meaningful, methodologically sound patient-reported measures (PRMs) and patient-reported performance measures (PR-PMs). PRMs are tools that directly capture patients' perceptions of their experiences and outcomes, whereas PR-PMs are measures
Innovation is needed to improve care of the seriously ill, and there are important opportunities as we transition from a volume-to value-based payment system. Not all seriously ill are dying; some recover, while others are persistently functionally impaired. While we innovate in service delivery and payment models for the seriously ill, it is important that we concurrently develop accountability that ensures a focus on high-quality care rather than narrowly focusing on cost containment. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation convened a meeting of 45 experts to arrive at guiding principles for measurement, create a starter measurement set, specify a proposed definition of the denominator and its refinement, and identify research priorities for future implementation of the accountability system. A series of articles written by experts provided the basis for debate and guidance in formulating a path forward to develop an accountability system for community-based programs for the seriously ill, outlined in this article. As we innovate in existing population-based payment programs such as Medicare Advantage and develop new alternative payment models, it is important and urgent that we develop the foundation for accountability along with actionable measures so that the healthcare system ensures high-quality person-and family-centered care for persons who are seriously ill.
BackgroundQuality measures are important because they can help improve and standardize the delivery of cancer care among healthcare providers and across tumor types. In an environment characterized by a rapidly shifting immunotherapeutic landscape and lack of associated long-term outcome data, defining quality measures for cancer immunotherapy is a high priority yet fraught with many challenges.MethodsThus, the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer convened a multistakeholder expert panel to,first, identify the current gaps in measures of quality cancer care delivery as it relates to immunotherapy and to,second, advance priority concepts surrounding quality measures that could be developed and broadly adopted by the field.ResultsAfter reviewing the existing quality measure landscape employed for immunotherapeutic-based cancer care, the expert panel identified four relevant National Quality Strategy domains (patient safety, person and family-centered care, care coordination and communication, appropriate treatment selection) with significant gaps in immunotherapy-based quality cancer care delivery. Furthermore, these domains offer opportunities for the development of quality measures as they relate to cancer immunotherapy. These four quality measure concepts are presented in this consensus statement.ConclusionsThis work represents a first step toward defining and standardizing quality delivery of cancer immunotherapy in order to realize its optimal application and benefit for patients.
Funding for this project was provided by the National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC). Westrich and Dubois are employees of the NPC. Valuck is a partner with Discern Health. Blaisdell and Dugan are employed by Discern Health. McClellan reports fees for serving on the Johnson & Johnson Board of Directors. Dugan reports consulting fees from the National Committee for Quality Assurance and Pharmacy Quality Alliance. The remaining authors report no relationship or financial interest with any entity that would pose a conflict of interest with the subject matter of this article. Study concept and design were contributed by Blaisdell, Valuck, Dugan, and Westrich. Blaisdell took the lead in data collection, along with Valuck and Dugan, and data interpretation was performed by Valuck, Blaisdell, Westrich, and Dubois. The manuscript was written by Blaisdell, along with Valuck and Dugan, and revised by Valuck, Westrich, Miller, and McClellan.
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