Particularities of quality and safety control in cancer care (literature review)

Abstract

Introduction. Last decade significant progress was made in the development of cancer care algorithms. In this regard, new challenges are constantly being presented to the quality control of medical activities in actual practice. Aims. To summarize the outlines regarding the most relevant criteria for assessing the quality in oncology. Material and methods. The PubMed database (Medline) was used to identify the relevant and reliable sources of literature. The thematic methodology for obtaining information was used. Results. In total, over 80 most significant publications were identified, thoroughly studied and analyzed. International experience indicates the advantages for assessing the quality of cancer care by determining and measuring certain indicators. The model for quality assessment proposed by Donabedian A. (1966) is broadly applied in current medical practice. This model distinguishes the following: 1) structural indicators, 2) process indicators, 3) outcome indicators. Feedback is critically important in the organization of the audit of medical activities. It allows one to adapt the assessment methods by focusing on the tasks immediately during the control process. Because of cancer heterogeneity, there are apart requirements for developing quality indicators for each specific type of cancer because of cancer heterogeneity. Conclusions. Monitoring of medical activities is a crucial pillar for a robust healthcare system. The introduction of essential, practical and specialized audit techniques helps to improve the quality and safety of medical technologies used in cancer care. There is an increasing need to develop optimal indicators and standard operating procedures for the control of cancer care.