title: Quality indicators in radiation oncology.
abstract: Oncologic specialty societies and multidisciplinary collaborative groups have dedicated considerable effort to developing evidence-based quality indicators (QIs) to facilitate quality improvement, accreditation, benchmarking, reimbursement, maintenance of certification, and regulatory reporting. In particular, the field of radiation oncology has a long history of organized quality assessment efforts and continues to work toward developing consensus quality standards in the face of continually evolving technologies and standards of care. This report provides a comprehensive review of the current state of quality assessment in radiation oncology. Specifically, this report highlights implications of the healthcare quality movement for radiation oncology and reviews existing efforts to define and measure quality in the field, with focus on dimensions of quality specific to radiation oncology within the "big picture" of oncologic quality assessment efforts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Albert
authors.forename: Prajnan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Das
mesh_terms: D000068:Accreditation / Q000592:standards; D019985:Benchmarking / Q000592:standards; D001918:Brachytherapy / Q000592:standards; D003142:Communication; D006801:Humans; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D058996:Quality Improvement / Q000592:standards; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D018787:Radiation Oncology / Q000592:standards*; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000592:standards; D012955:Societies, Medical / Q000592:standards; D014481:United States