Efforts to improve quality in cancer care by creating standards of measurement abound, including the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI), launched in 2006 by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).1 But although measuring quality with the goal of improving patient care is important, it’s essential for healthcare leaders to grasp what is being measured and to ensure that it actually matter to patients.
That was the message from John Fox, MD, MHA, associate vice president of Medical Affairs at Priority Health, who gave the talk, “Payer Perspectives on the Role and Impact of QOPI Certification.” At the outset, Fox said that healthcare tends to value those things that are easiest to measure, although “They are not necessarily the things that are the most important.”

There is little evidence demonstrating that health information exchanges help to reduce costs or improve the quality of care,