ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc. (ASCO®) commends the 24 practices that took their standard of care to the next level and achieved Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) Certification in the first quarter of this year. By electing to go through the certification process, these practices have demonstrated their commitment to providing the highest-quality oncology care to their patients, communities, and contemporaries.

“Our Society’s mission is to conquer cancer, with one of the means to achieve this being promotion of the highest quality patient care,” said ASCO President Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, FACS, FASCO. “We can only do this through the efforts of our members around the world, in practices of all sizes and types, who are striving to provide their patients with the best care. By taking the extra step of becoming QOPI® Certified, a practice demonstrates its dedication to this ideal, taking action to commit to continual improvement of care.”

For the first quarter of 2019, the following practices achieved QOPI Certification or Re-Certification, which is valid for a three-year period:

• Acreditar Oncology – Brasilia, Brazil
• Affiliated Oncologists LLC – Chicago Ridge, IL
• CAMC Cancer Center – Charleston, WV
• Cancer Treatment Centers of America Atlanta – Newnan, GA
• Cancer Treatment Centers of America Philadelphia – Philadelphia, PA
• Cape Cod Healthcare Medical Oncology and Hematology – Hyannis, MA
• Cape Fear Valley Health System – Fayetteville, NC
• Chitra Venkatraman, M.D., P.A. – Greenbelt, MD
• Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center – Milwaukee, WI
• Hahn Cancer Center – Harrisonburg, VA
• Hematology Oncology Associates – Allentown, PA
• Illinois CancerCare, P.C. – Peoria, IL
• Lafayette Cancer Care – Lafayette, IN
• Lehigh Valley Health Network Hazleton Cancer Center – Hazleton, PA
• Mary Bird Perkins TGMC Cancer Center – Houma, LA
• NorthShore University Health System Medical Group Kellogg Cancer Center – Evanston, IL
• Northwestern Medical Group – Chicago, IL
• Orlando Health UF Health Cancer Center – Orlando, FL
• Sobrato Cancer Center - Santa Clara Valley Medical Center – San José, CA
• Southcoast Hospitals Group – Fairhaven, MA
• Starling Physicians – Wethersfield, CT
• UCHealth Cancer Care – Aurora, CO
• University of Chicago Medical Center – Chicago, IL
• WVU Cancer Institute – Morgantown, WV

QOPI® is a voluntary self-assessment program that helps oncology practices to assess and improve the quality of the care they provide to patients. More than 750 oncology practices have registered for QOPI, including the international practices from the four countries identified above.

The QOPI® Certification Program, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of ASCO that began in 2010, recognizes the delivery of high-quality care to patients in outpatient hematology-oncology practices. The QOPI Certification Standards serve as the framework for the program and as a guide to the best practices in oncology care. Individual practices are eligible to receive QOPI Certification based on their compliance with QOPI standards as assessed during an on-site survey. The QOPI quality standards address practice performance in several key areas, including:

• Creating a safe environment -- staffing, competencies, and general policy
• Treatment planning, patient consent, and education
• Ordering, preparing, dispensing, and administering chemotherapy
• Monitoring after chemotherapy is given, including adherence, toxicity, and complications.

More than 300 practices worldwide have current QOPI Certification. View the names and locations of all Certified practices around the world.

ASCO is dedicated to innovative quality improvement programs, such as QOPI and QOPI Certification, to foster the delivery of high-quality patient care around the world. For more information, please visit: https://practice.asco.org/quality-improvement/quality-programs.