The Tammy Walker Cancer Center’s Medical Oncology and Hematology Department has received a three-year re-certification from the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®).
According to Salina Regional Health Center, the voluntary program is an effort to help medical oncology practices assess the quality of care they provide patients using nationally recognized standards. To become QOPI® Certified, practices have to submit to an evaluation of their entire practice and documentation standards. The QOPI® Certification Program staff and task force members then verify through an on-site survey that the evaluation and documents are correct and that the practices meet core standards in areas of treatment, including:
- Creating a safe environment—staffing, competencies and general policy
- Treatment planning, patient consent and education
- Safe ordering, preparing, dispensing and administering chemotherapy
- Monitoring after chemotherapy is administered, including adherence, toxicity and complications
- Treatment planning
- Staff training and education
- Chemotherapy orders and drug preparation
- Patient consent and education
- Safe chemotherapy administration
- Monitoring and assessment of patient well-being
“A significant portion of QOPI® Certification revolves around creating a culture of performance improvement,” said Melanie Leepers, cancer program manager at the Tammy Walker Cancer Center. “This includes analyzing our efforts documented in patient records to evaluate the quality of treatments received, including symptom management and consideration for a patient’s overall health. This information is then used to drive our performance improvement initiatives focused on patient safety and outcomes.”
The Tammy Walker Cancer Center’s Medical Oncology and Hematology Department was first certified by QOPI® in 2018. Nearly 300 practices around the United States are currently QOPI® certified.
“Practices that re-certify demonstrate passion for quality care,” said ASCO Chair Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, FACS, FASCO. “By opting to dedicate time and resources toward this certification, they exemplify what all providers should strive for, in not just meeting guidelines and standards, but exceeding them.”
The QOPI® Certification Program is dedicated to innovative quality improvement programs. For more information please visit: https://practice.asco.org/quality-improvement/quality-programs.
