Quality Oncology Practice Initiative Certification Program: measuring implementation of chemotherapy administration safety standards in the outpatient oncology setting

Abstract

The Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI) Certification Program (QCP) evaluates individual outpatient oncology practice performance in areas that affect patient care and safety and builds on the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) QOPI by assessing the compliance of a practice with certification standards based on the ASCO/Oncology Nursing Society standards for safe chemotherapy administration. To become certified, a practice must attain a benchmark quality score on certification measures in QOPI and attest that it complies with 17 QCP standards. Structured on-site reviews, initially performed in randomly selected practices, became mandatory beginning in September 2011. Of 111 practices that have undergone on-site review, only two were fully concordant with all of the standards (median, 11; range, seven to 17). Most practices were subsequently able to modify practice to become QOPI certified. The QCP addresses the call from the Institute of Medicine to close the quality gap by aligning evidence-based guidelines and consensus-driven standards with requirements for oncology practices to develop and maintain structural safety components, such as policies and procedures that ensure practice performance. On-site practice evaluation is a high-impact component of the program.

Figure 1.

Number of standards met by individual practices during on-site review by Quality Oncology Practice Initiative Certification Program auditor (n = 111). Each practice had attested to meeting all 17 standards before the on-site review. No practice met fewer than seven standards.

Figure 2.

Percentages of practices meeting Quality Oncology Practice Initiative Certification Program standards (A) one to nine and (B) 10 to 17 on initial on-site review (n = 111) from January 2010 to November 2012.

Figure A1.

Geographic distribution of the 153 Quality Oncology Practice Initiative–certified practices.