Introduction
In this topic you learn how the quality of breast cancer care and treatments can be followed up, managed and developed.
Learning outcome: To demonstrates knowledge and critical reflections about quality indicators as tools to improve breast cancer treatment. To understand quality management principles associated with breast cancer care. To demonstrate knowledge and critical reflections about quality indicators as a part of auditing and quality assurance processes.
Learning material and test your knowledge
This 17:13 min video about quality management in breast cancer care introduces you to quality management methods and tools in breast cancer care.
This 14:41 min video about clinical audits and standards of breast cancer care introduces you to the basic concepts and principles of clinical audits in the context of breast cancer care and treatments.
The following prezi presentation introduces quality indicators in the histopathology laboratory process.
What did you learn? Test how well you learnt the topic quality indicators with the test below.
Learning task: Review your quality manual
Evaluate the quality manual of your own unit again Quality Indicators.
The purpose of the Quality Indicators of breast cancer treatment is to set a minimum standard for care and to establish good treatment for breast cancer patients. Quality improvement is an essential element in the breast cancer treatment process.
Now you can review the quality manual of your unit and evaluate the practice.
Quality indicators are listed in the article in Table 1 (page 61). Read them through.
Review the quality manual of your unit or hospital and assess whether the criteria in Table 1 are met. Then answer to following questions:
· Did you find all Quality Indicators named in the manual?
· What kind of differences did you find when comparing Quality Indicators and the manual of your unit?
· When evaluating the Quality Indicators how many of the criteria were met and to what extent?
· What kind of good practices do you find in your unit?
· If you find areas for development, consider what should be done in your hospital/unit to ensure that the quality criteria are met.
Further reading