Effect of intervention on a quality measure of pain management at Medstar Washington Cancer Institute.

144 Background: Medstar Washington Cancer Institute (MWCI) has participated in Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI) since 2008. Adherence to pain assessment and intensity documentation was high, but lower in plan of care for moderate/severe pain documentation (69%, compared to QOPI aggregate of 79%) during the fall 2011 round. One potential explanation for the discrepancy was lack of communication between the nursing staff assessing the pain and the physician treating pain. We hypothesized that the use of pain card can improve the communication between nurses and doctors, as well as prompt physicians to document the plan of care for moderate/severe pain. Methods: MWCI created a team of physicians, nurses, quality resources, and administrative staff in December 2011. We abstracted up to 10 patients charts per oncologist for those patientswho reported moderate to severe pain (pain score of more than 3 of 10 on numeric rating scale) each quarter during 2012.We used data for quarter 1 and 2 as a baseli...