WASHINGTON (Feb. 26, 2019) A team from the George Washington University (GW) Cancer Center has been approved for a $300,000 funding award through the Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Awards (Engagement Awards) program, an initiative of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). The funds will support dissemination of patient-driven standards for quality cancer survivorship care.
Mandi Pratt-Chapman, MA, associate center director for patient-centered initiatives and health equity at the GW Cancer Center and principal investigator for the award will lead the engagement project. The project, “Disseminating Patient-Driven Standards for Quality Cancer Survivorship Care" will focus on engaging well-established relationships with comprehensive cancer control coalitions to disseminate and facilitate implementation of the Survivorship Care Quality Index (SCQI) into practice among oncology and primary care providers at both a national level and targeted states.
The SCQI is designed to help health care providers develop, assess and track patient-centered, high quality survivorship care and was developed through a previous PCORI award. The SCQI provides a holistic inventory of quality care services that help providers optimize the limited time available in a clinical encounter.
“I’m very excited about this opportunity to provide a framework and tools for cancer centers to improve the quality of survivorship care," said Pratt-Chapman, who served as co-principal investigator on the original project that resulted in the SCQI. “By providing organizations with evidence-based recommendations and practical tools for putting those recommendations into practice, we hope to ultimately improve care for the 15.5 million cancer survivors across the United States."
The insights of the SCQI are designed to be useful to both oncology and primary care providers in a variety of diverse settings. As a part of this work, the GW Cancer Center will work with a Community Advisory Board to create resources to support improvements in quality care including toolkits, tip sheets and resource guides for providers as well as training through an online learning module and in-person workshops in collaboration with comprehensive cancer control coalitions.
“Disseminating Patient-Driven Standards for Quality Cancer Survivorship Care" is part of a portfolio of projects that PCORI has funded to help develop a community of patients and other stakeholders equipped to participate as partners in comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) and disseminate PCORI-funded study results. Through the Engagement Award Program, PCORI is creating an expansive network of individuals, communities and organizations interested in and able to participate in, share, and use patient-centered CER.
###
About PCORI
PCORI is an independent, non-profit organization authorized by Congress in 2010 to fund comparative effectiveness research that will provide patients, their caregivers and clinicians with the evidence needed to make better-informed health and health care decisions. PCORI is committed to seeking input from a broad range of stakeholders to guide its work.
About the GW Cancer Center
The George Washington University (GW) Cancer Center is a collaboration of the George Washington University, the GW Hospital and the GW Medical Faculty Associates to expand GW’s efforts in the fight against cancer. The GW Cancer Center also incorporates all existing cancer-related activities at GW, with a vision to create a cancer-free world through groundbreaking research, innovative education and equitable care for all. Learn more about the GW Cancer Center at gwcancercenter.com.
