OREANDA-NEWS. July 19, 2013. Virginia Oncology Associates has been recognized by the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) Certification Program, an affiliate of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).  The QOPI® Certification Program provides a three-year certification for outpatient hematology-oncology practices that meet the highest standards for quality cancer care.

"We're very proud to receive this certification from ASCO and QOPI which highlights our commitment to excellence and the quality of cancer care and safety for our patients," said Director of Clinical Services, Nicky Dozier, PharmD.

"Oncology practices that are committed to quality and safety are those that provide the most optimal cancer care," said ASCO President, Sandra M. Swain, MD, FACP. "ASCO's quality programs are designed by leaders in the profession and give practices the ability to continuously improve the quality of care they provide.  The QOPI Certification Program helps practices determine whether they are providing the best treatment and care possible to their patients, and demonstrates a commitment to excellence and ongoing quality improvement in the hematology-oncology outpatient practice."

QOPI is a voluntary, self-assessment and improvement program launched by ASCO in 2006 to help hematology-oncology and medical oncology practices assess the quality of the care they provide to patients. Through the QOPI program, practices abstract data from patients' records up to twice per year and enter this information into a secure database. More than 800 oncology practices have registered in the QOPI program.

The QOPI Certification Program (QCP) was launched in January 2010, with more than 150 practices already certified. This certification for outpatient oncology practices is the first program of its kind for oncology in the United States. Oncologists can achieve certification by demonstrating practice consistent with the highest standards of care. The QCP seal designates those practices that not only scored high on the key QOPI quality measures, but meet rigorous safety measures established by ASCO and the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS).

QOPI analyzes individual practice data and compares these to more than 100 evidence-based and consensus quality measures. The information is then provided in reports to participating practices.  Individual practices are also able to compare their performance to data from other practices across the country. Based on this feedback, doctors and practices can identify areas for improvement. 

To become certified, practices have to submit to an evaluation of their entire practice and documentation standards. The QCP staff and steering group members then verify through on-site inspection that the evaluation and documents are correct and that the practices met core standards in all areas of treatment, including:

treatment planning
staff training and education
chemotherapy orders and drug preparation
patient consent and education
safe chemotherapy administration
monitoring and assessment of patient well-being.