Greater Rome Times

Health care providers in Rome- including Harbin Clinic, Floyd Medical Center and Redmond Regional Medical Center - are joining with the Georgia Cancer Coalition in a pilot project whose goal is to develop a system for measuring the quality of cancer care.

The Georgia Cancer Quality Information Exchange has the potential of becoming the first statewide evidence-based cancer quality measurement program in the country.

Many factors played into the Georgia Cancer Coalition’s decision to make Rome the state’s second demonstration site for “The Exchange.”

“We are very impressed with the level of collaboration and joint development of initiatives in Rome,” says Coalition President and CEO Bill Todd. “Our goal for The Exchange is to work together with many stakeholders, and the cooperative effort in Rome allows us to determine how community-wide implementation can work.”

The Cancer Registries at Harbin, Floyd and Redmond already work together on a routine basis; they share a Cancer Committee and have standardized policies and procedures. Together, Harbin Clinic, Floyd and Redmond procured a Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) that allows physicians to view results from any of the three imaging centers at a single location. Harbin, recognized as a leader in effectively using information technology, allows Harbin Clinic physicians full access to their patients’ Electronic Medical Record from the two hospitals.

Currently, both Floyd Medical Center and Redmond Regional Medical Center are accredited by the American College of Surgeons as Community Hospital Cancer Programs.  The medical community is working together toward becoming a Community Hospital Comprehensive Care Program, which is required by the Commission on Cancer to see 650 or more newly diagnosed cancer cases per year; to have board certified physicians in major specialties, including oncology; and to participate in clinical research.

The Harbin Clinic, the largest, privately owned, multi-specialty physician clinic in the state, further offers the opportunity to learn how well The Exchange can be implemented in an ambulatory clinic setting. Harbin will lead the project and serve as the clearinghouse for information on progress.      

 “All partners have made a significant investment of resources and expertise to become a demonstration site,” says Todd. “Their role in facilitating the design, access and retrieval of clinical information and public health data will play a critical role in The Exchange.”

Tom Fricks, Chief Information Officer for Harbin Clinic, has been named the Project Executive and Dr. Matthew Mumber, a radiation oncologist, is the Physician Executive. They are leading a committee that is currently designing a plan to gather data on metrics specific to lung cancer as well as other metrics that apply to all types of cancer.

“Northwest Georgia is a microcosm of the state of Georgia. We have a multi-specialty physician practice and a not- for-profit and for-profit hospital. The implementation of electronic medical record keeping is at various stages in the three facilities, so the gathering of data will require alternative approaches. With a high level of collaboration, we believe that we can demonstrate results that other regions of Georgia can replicate,” says Dr. Mumber.

The Georgia Cancer Quality Information Exchange is the brainchild of the Georgia Cancer Coalition. Founded in 2001 using a portion of Georgia’s tobacco settlement funds, the Coalition’s objective is to make Georgia a national leader in cancer prevention, treatment, and research. Coalition leaders realized that an objective tool was needed to measure their progress. Finding no such resource, they sought the advice of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), a division of the National Academy of Science. The IOM’s response was a one-year study, funded by the an Atlanta Foundation and carried out by a team of experts in clinical research, public health, academia,  oncology, healthcare, quality assurance, information technology, accreditation and public policy.

Assessing the Quality of Cancer Care: An Approach to Measurement in Georgia was submitted to the Georgia Cancer Coalition in early 2005.  Building on the IOM’s experience in quality-of-care measurement, the study developed 52 measures, focusing on adult breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers, since these comprise more than half of all cancer cases and deaths in Georgia. These metrics includes measurements related to all aspects of cancer care, from cancer prevention, to early detection, to cancer diagnoses, treatment, follow-up and palliative care.

The Coalition’s first pilot project sought to validate the use of the IOM metrics in a clinical setting. At the same time that the Coalition  was seeking a potential partner to demonstrate the feasibility of collecting such data, St. Joseph’s/Candler (SJ/C) in Savannah was in the process of launching their new Nancy N. and J.C. Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion and searching for metrics to track and monitor their own progress.

SJ/C became the Georgia Cancer Quality Information Exchange’s first demonstration project, developing a standardized framework or “toolkit” for providers and validating the use of the metrics in a clinical care delivery setting. Their area of focus was breast cancer.