Patient-Reported Outcomes — Oncology

Cancer treatments cost U.S. employers $125 billion annually, or 12% of their total medical spending, despite accounting for just 1% of claims. Ensuring these dollars go toward the highest-quality care is critical for employers and patients alike.

Patient-reported outcomes can play an important role in measuring the quality of cancer treatments, particularly when it comes to assessing the symptoms that may result from both the disease and its treatment. Depending on the individual and provider, cancer patients undergoing similar care regimens can experience wide variations in pain levels, quality of life and functional status during their care and even after the completion of their treatment.

To better understand the origins of these differences and help patients make an easier transition into cancer survivorship, PBGH is leading a pioneering effort to develop patient-reported outcome measures that assess health-related quality of life, pain and fatigue for cancer patients. Research has shown that oncologists who provide curative cancer patients with the highest quality medical and nonmedical care help reduce longer-term symptom burdens.

PBGH’s groundbreaking work is focused on patients undergoing treatment for breast, colon and non-small cell lung cancer, and is being supported by a grant from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Once the measures are finalized, PBGH will submit them to CMS and the National Quality Forum for endorsement consideration.