Building Quality from the Ground Up in a Cancer Center

The Institute of Medicine defines quality in healthcare as the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge. This concept is highly relevant for cancer care that involves patients with complex diseases in the setting of rapidly evolving treatment landscape that requires provision of appropriate services in a patient-centric and technically competent manner. This chapter uses the Donabedian model to review the structural, process, and outcome-based quality domains that lay the foundation for a robust system to measure, monitor, and improve quality of care at cancer centers. The infrastructure and personnel, systems, and culture needed for ensuring provision of high-quality cancer care are reviewed.