A NEW ARTICLE published in JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics (JCO CCI), “Automating QOPI Quality Measure NHL78a,” by Richard P. Mansour, MD, and Samip Master, MD, reports how the authors were able to use data from an electronic health record (EHR) and Microsoft SQL Server database management system to complete the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) measure NHL 78a, which addresses hepatitis B testing in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
ASCO’s Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI) is a voluntary and free ASCO member benefit program to help practices improve the quality of care they deliver and to certify outpatient oncology offices for meeting the highest standards for cancer care delivery. Each practice receives detailed reports that demonstrate its performance level compared with the QOPI national average and highlights specific areas for improvement. Key measurements span the continuum of cancer care, including diagnosis and treatment planning; patient assessment; explanation of treatment goals; pain and symptom management; and psychosocial, survivorship, and end-of-life care.
Study Findings
THE AUTHORS noted that QOPI measure NHL 78a—which is making sure that patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma receive a hepatitis B virus infection test, hepatitis B surface antigen, and hepatitis B core antibody test within 3 months before initiating treatment with obinutuzumab, ofatumumab, or rituximab— lends itself to automation.
To create an automated process, the authors used a locally developed SQL language procedure in the Microsoft SQL Query Manager to access the Epic Clarity database, which is the Epic EHR companion relational reporting database. Epic Clarity ran a rapid-case identification of the unique identifier of all patients who had received one of the target medications (obinutuzumab, ofatumumab, or rituximab). The authors then developed a four-step process to find the number of patients who passed/failed the quality measure.
SQL Procedure
ONCE THE SQL PROCEDURE has been created, it takes very little cost or staff time to run it at specified time intervals, and it can be reproduced easily at other practices. The SQL procedure runs quickly, and can be programmed to view whatever date range is desired (eg, 6 months, 12 months, etc).
Read the full article at: http://ascopubs.org/ doi/10.1200/CCI.17.00038. ■
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