title: The Potential Role of Symptom Questionnaires in Palliative and Supportive Cancer Care Delivery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) palliative care recommendations have been updated into a full guideline. Symptom questionnaires-completed and reviewed with patients during care delivery-are poised to play a large role in this guideline because they provide a more comprehensive understanding of symptoms. This article provides an overview of the guideline and describes how symptom questionnaires can be used to satisfy the guideline.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Standardized symptom questionnaires can be used for three purposes in care delivery: symptom management, referral to specialty palliative and supportive care, and to assess high-quality care. Challenges include necessary changes to clinic workflow to collect patient responses and respond to electronic alerts for worsening symptoms. Symptom questionnaires administered as part of routine care delivery are highly informative and worth the time to enhance symptom management in routine care, to increase referrals, and to standardize performance metrics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy and Management, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA. stoveram@email.unc.edu.|Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 450 West Dr., Chapel Hill, NC, 27516, USA. stoveram@email.unc.edu.
authors.forename: Angela M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Stover
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy and Management, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.|Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 450 West Dr., Chapel Hill, NC, 27516, USA.
authors.forename: Ethan M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Basch
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D010166:Palliative Care; D011788:Quality of Life; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Clinical oncology; Healthcare delivery; Patient outcome assessment; Patient-centered care; Patient-centered outcomes research; Quality of healthcare; Quality of life