ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc. (ASCO®) has announced that the first three practices in Spain have received Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) certification through QOPI Certification Program™, LLC (QCP). The accreditations were given today at the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid, Spain.

“The continuous improvement of the quality of cancer care that we provide is a worldwide effort,” said ASCO President Bruce E. Johnson, MD, FASCO. “We commend these practices for demonstrating their commitment to high quality and safety excellence in the delivery of care to patients and for forging new ground within their country.”

The QOPI Certification Program™, which began in 2010, offers specialty three-year certification to outpatient oncology practices demonstrating commitment to quality. The three practices to receive certification are:

• Servicio de Oncología Medica - Hospital Universitario General de Valencia – Valencia, Spain
• Servicio de Oncología Medica - Instituto Valenciano de Oncología – Valencia, Spain
• Servicio de Oncología Medica - Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal – Madrid, Spain

Each of these practices completed a comprehensive, voluntary assessment of its site against specified standards that are consistent with national guidelines. Those practices that earn the QOPI Certification™ designation have scored well on key Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) quality measures and have met chemotherapy standards established by ASCO and the Oncology Nursing Society in areas of treatment safety. Dr. Carlos Camps, Dr. Vincente Guillem and Dr. Alfredo Carrato, heads of the oncology departments of the three practices certified, agree in the high importance of this recognition, which will reinforce their commitment with quality in cancer patient care.   

Applying for QOPI Certification in Spain is now possible because of a collaboration between QCP™ and the Foundation for Excellence and Quality in Oncology (ECO), a nonprofit foundation in Spain. Through this collaboration, ECO facilitated the certification efforts within Spain for these three practices, advising on the application of QOPI quality measures in Spain, conducting onsite reviews, and processing the necessary documentation for QOPI Certification. The applications then underwent ASCO's traditional peer review by a select team of oncology professionals, such as physicians and nurses.

ECO 2017 Special Award

In addition, ECO will present the QOPI Certification Program™ with its 2017 Special Award in the category “Award to the best initiative in Quality Care in Oncology” later today at ESMO. This is the first time an ECO Special Award has been granted to an international organization.

“ASCO is the world´s leading organization representing healthcare professionals who treat people with cancer,” said Vicente Guillem, MD, PhD, President of the ECO Foundation. “QOPI® is a worldwide referral in terms of quality improvement with hundreds of practices certified.” 

QOPI, which ASCO established in 2006, is a voluntary self-assessment and improvement program to assist hematology-oncology and medical oncology practices in assessing the quality of the care they provide to patients. Through the QOPI program, practices abstract data from patients’ medical records up to twice per year and enter this information into a secure database.  ASCO established the QOPI Certification Program™ in 2010 to give QOPI® participants an opportunity to critically evaluate internal processes that are indicative of a high-performing oncology team, identify where further improvements can be made, and implement a plan to put those improvements in place.

Currently, more than 300 practices in the United States, Greece, Brazil and Spain have achieved QOPI Certification™.

QOPI and the QOPI Certification Program are projects dedicated to innovative quality improvement programs. For more information, please visit: https://practice.asco.org/quality-improvement/quality-programs.