Quality indicators for cervical cancer care in Japan.

219Background: Although ensuring high-quality care has a central role in Japanese cancer policy, introduction of a system to evaluate quality is still underway. With the goal of establishing a sustainable measurement system, this study assesses adherence to quality indicators (QIs) as an index for evaluating the quality of care for cervical cancer patients in Japan. Methods: Ten measurable QIs were devised by an expert committee using the modified Delphi method. Adherence to each QI was calculated by using hospital cancer registry data of patients diagnosed during 2013 and claims data between October 1, 2012, and December 31, 2014. Using registry-linked claims data across 281 hospitals, we measured 3 QIs on treatment for CIN3, 3 QIs on stage III or IVA, and 1 QI on stage IVB, respectively. We also measured 1 QI on examination of cancer spread and 1 QI on brachytherapy. Results: Data for 11,925 cervical cancer patients were analyzed. Patients’ mean age was 45.4 years (SD: 15.1). Among the QIs, use of plati...