ASCO’s Top Five List, as part of the Choosing Wisely® campaign, continues to resonate with the oncology community as the Society has taken further definitive steps to help promote the list’s uptake in oncology practice.
As part of the Society’s Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) Spring 2013 data collection, quality measures adapted from ASCO’s Top Five list are now included as part of the program’s more than 100 quality measures.
“We wanted to take our Top Five recommendations a step further and implement them as defined quality measures in the care of the cancer patient. It’s not enough for us to simply set forth recommendations – we want to see them adopted by oncologists ,” said Lowell E. Schnipper, MD, chair of ASCO’s cost of cancer care task force. “By incorporating the list into our quality measurement program, we can help discourage inappropriate use of these tests and treatments in oncology practice.”
The initial measures are drawn from the Top Five recommendations on advanced imaging in low-risk cancers, use of tumor markers in breast cancer, and the prescribing patterns of colony stimulating growth factors. They will continue to be refined as results from the data collection are analyzed.
The nexus of evidence-based recommendations and quality measurement ensures that patients are receiving the highest quality, highest value care for their individual circumstances.
ASCO also announced it will develop a second Top Five list in oncology, scheduled to be released later this year. ASCO’s participation in the campaign reflects its commitment to ensuring that patients receive meaningful benefit from every test and treatment for each health-care dollar spent—maximizing quality and value with a focus on safety, effectiveness and patient-centered care.
“The Top 5 list was just one step along a continuum toward high-quality, high-value cancer care,” Dr. Schnipper said. “By creating a culture of self-examination in oncology, we can provide the right care for the right patient at the right time.”
Consumer Reports, the official media partner of the Choosing Wisely campaign, recently developed patient-friendly translations of ASCO’s Top Five list, available for download on Cancer.Net. These documents will help patients understand the clinical reasoning behind each of the recommendations, as well as offer questions to consider when discussing care with their physician.
Seventeen additional medical specialty societies have now released their Choosing Wisely Top Five lists as part of Phase II of the Choosing Wisely campaign, adding to the lists released by ASCO and ten other societies in the spring of 2012. The Choosing Wisely campaign now provides 130 specific tests, treatments and procedures that physicians and patients should carefully consider before implementing. Several organizations participating in Phase II addressed cancer-related items including screening tests for prostate and cervical cancers. In addition, lists from several of the groups echo ASCO’s recommendations on the use of advanced imaging techniques in the setting of patients with low-risk cancers and palliative care and hospice promotion for patients with advanced, incurable disease.
Check out a new video from ASCO volunteers, underscoring the importance of ASCO's Top Five list and what it means for patients and providers.
To view the Top Five lists from all 26 medical specialty societies participating in the Choosing Wisely campaign, please click here.