title: [Clinical quality assurance at institutions according to a patterns of care study. Japanese PCS Working Group].
abstract: The clinical quality assurance (QA) of an institution is important in any multiinstitutional prospective study. Patterns of Care Study (PCS) is a well-known study for QA activity in the United States. PCS is a nationwide retrospective study done by two-staged cluster sampling of institutions and patients and external audits. After data are accumulated, National averages on various survey items are calculated as a QA measure. In 1996, PCS was imported into the radiation oncology field in Japan with the support of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Preliminary results showed significant differences in treatment process, structure, and preliminary outcome according to the stratification of institutions. These data can be useful in improving the structure and process at the institutional as well as the national level. PCS will also clarify the dissemination of positive clinical results into national practice.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Medical Engineering, Osaka University Medical School.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Teshima
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanisada
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohno
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hiraoka
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mitsuhashi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sumi
mesh_terms: D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000592:standards*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis