Forum participants agreed that:

• Defining quality in cancer care is challenging.
• Each stakeholder group—practitioners, payers, patients—has its own definition of quality.
• Given the growing number of accrediting/quality improvement organizations/standards and reporting requirements, some streamlining or consolidating of these programs would be beneficial.
• Patients often define quality by nonclinical parameters, such as environment of care and communication with provider.
• The current reimbursement climate does not incentivize many of the approaches that improve quality.
• Cost and quality must be considered in tandem when determining value. ■