Quality measurement in oncology practices

The prolonged, ubiquitous use of practice management systems and the more recent use of electronic medical record systems in oncology have led to the accumulation of significant repositories of financial, operational, and clinical data. This article examines the use of these data to provide peer-to-peer benchmarking of operational and financial information and a series of data-driven national indices of clinical treatment patterns in oncology. Although not directly a measure of the presence or absence of managerial excellence or clinical quality outcomes, these benchmarks and indices do measure the degree to which processes in place may be beneficial to higher quality management of clinical, financial, and operational outcomes.