title: Improving psychosocial care for improved health outcomes.
abstract: The core of healthcare quality is continuous improvement of processes and results. For cancer patients, psychosocial care can affect overall outcomes. In this article, we outline the efforts that a national comprehensive cancer center is using to bring psychosocial care to the same level of awareness, importance, and integration as clinical care. Improving all aspects of patient care, psychosocial as well as biological, must be pursued if progress in overall quality of cancer care is to be achieved.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, USA. marodriguez@mdanderson.org
authors.forename: Maria Alma
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tortorella
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: St John
mesh_terms: D002173:Cancer Care Facilities / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D005791:Patient Care / Q000592:standards; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014218:Triage