Thursday, September 5, 2013
ASCO and AAHPM Team up on Quality Improvement
“I’m seeing the road that I’ve traveled
A road paved with heartache and tears
And I’m seeing the past that I’ve wasted
While watchin’ the bubbles in my beer”
- Bob Wills
I’ve always preferred Bob Wills’ “…bubbles…” to Don Ho’s “Tiny Bubbles”. The former always feel more contemplative, but also remind me to continue to break out of the doldrums…the usual…don’t take the world as it sits today as the way it will always be.
For those looking to break new ground and collaborate on enhancing palliative care in the community, a new opportunity is getting underway. The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in collaboration with the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) is embarking on a Virtual Learning Collaborative pilot to improve the delivery of palliative care in oncology practices.
This multiyear project will encourage oncology practices to develop evidence-based approaches to palliative care and to use proven quality improvement techniques to do better each day than the day before.
Applications are being accepted through the end of September from practices that are registered for ASCO’s Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI). Teams, including a physician-champion and other leaders, from 25 practices will be selected to participate in this pilot.
Visit this link to learn more about the program:
http://www.asco.org/institute-quality/asco-virtual-learning-collaborative
What does this mean to the Pallimed reader?
Reach out to oncology practices with which you work today, or with which you would like to collaborate. Ask them if they are ASCO QOPI practices…are they thinking about this learning opportunity…and would they like a date?
To learn more about this project or about ASCO’s QOPI program send a note to vlc@asco.org
Sometimes you have to leave the bubbles to do their thing, and get up off the bar stool, and make a difference in this world. This just might be that opportunity.