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Current Oncology
Volume 16
Issue 6
10.3747/co.v16i6.400
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Current Oncology is published by MDPI from Volume 28 Issue 1 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher in Open Access under a CC-BY (or CC-BY-NC-ND) licence, and they are hosted by MDPI on mdpi.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Multimed Inc..
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Article

Cancer Diagnostic Assessment Programs: Standards for the Organization of Care in Ontario

by
M. Brouwers
1,2,*,
T. K. Oliver
1,2,
J. Crawford
2,
P. Ellison
3,
W. K. Evans
4,
A. Gagliardi
5,
J. Lacourciere
6,
D. Lo
7,
V. Mai
8,
S. McNair
1,2,
T. Minuk
9,
L. Rabeneck
8,
C. Rand
5,
J. Ross
8,
J. Smylie
10,
J. Srigley
9,
H. Stern
8,11 and
M. Trudeau
8
1
Program in Evidence-Based Care, Hamilton, ON, Canada
2
Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
3
University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
4
Juravinski Cancer Centre, Hamilton, ON, Canada
5
Toronto General Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
6
Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada
7
Department of Medical Oncology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
8
Cancer Care Ontario, Toronto, ON, Canada
9
Department of Radiology, Henderson Hospital, Hamilton, ON, Canada
10
Ottawa Regional Cancer Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada
11
Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, QC, Canada
 
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*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Curr. Oncol. 2009, 16(6), 29-41; https://doi.org/10.3747/co.v16i6.400
Submission received: 3 September 2009 / Revised: 8 October 2009 / Accepted: 10 November 2009 / Published: 1 December 2009

Abstract

Background: Improving access to better, more efficient, and rapid cancer diagnosis is a necessary component of a high-quality cancer system. How diagnostic services ought to be organized, structured, and evaluated is less understood and studied. Our objective was to address this gap. Methods: As a quality initiative of Cancer Care Ontario’s Program in Evidence-Based Care, the Diagnostic Assessment Standards Panel, with representation from clinical oncology experts, institutional and clinical administrative leaders, health service researchers, and methodologists, conducted a systematic review and a targeted environmental scan of the unpublished literature. Standards were developed based on expert consensus opinion informed by the identified evidence. Through external review, clinicians and administrators across Ontario were given the opportunity to provide feedback. Results: The body of evidence consists of thirty-five published studies and fifteen unpublished guidance documents. The evidence and consensus opinion consistently favoured an organized, centralized system with multidisciplinary team membership as the optimal approach for the delivery of diagnostic cancer assessment services. Independent external stakeholders agreed (with higher mean values, maximum 5, indicating stronger agreement) that dap standards are needed (mean: 4.6), that standards should be formally approved (mean: 4.3), and importantly, that standards reflect an effective approach that will lead to quality improvements in the cancer system (mean: 4.5) and in patient care (mean: 4.3). Interpretation: Based on the best available evidence, standards for the organization of daps are offered. There is clear need to integrate formal and comprehensive evaluation strategies with the implementation of the standards to advance this field.
Keywords: diagnostic assessment; organizational; standards; systematic review; cancer diagnostic assessment; organizational; standards; systematic review; cancer

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MDPI and ACS Style

Brouwers, M.; Oliver, T.K.; Crawford, J.; Ellison, P.; Evans, W.K.; Gagliardi, A.; Lacourciere, J.; Lo, D.; Mai, V.; McNair, S.; et al. Cancer Diagnostic Assessment Programs: Standards for the Organization of Care in Ontario. Curr. Oncol. 2009, 16, 29-41. https://doi.org/10.3747/co.v16i6.400

AMA Style

Brouwers M, Oliver TK, Crawford J, Ellison P, Evans WK, Gagliardi A, Lacourciere J, Lo D, Mai V, McNair S, et al. Cancer Diagnostic Assessment Programs: Standards for the Organization of Care in Ontario. Current Oncology. 2009; 16(6):29-41. https://doi.org/10.3747/co.v16i6.400

Chicago/Turabian Style

Brouwers, M., T. K. Oliver, J. Crawford, P. Ellison, W. K. Evans, A. Gagliardi, J. Lacourciere, D. Lo, V. Mai, S. McNair, and et al. 2009. "Cancer Diagnostic Assessment Programs: Standards for the Organization of Care in Ontario" Current Oncology 16, no. 6: 29-41. https://doi.org/10.3747/co.v16i6.400

APA Style

Brouwers, M., Oliver, T. K., Crawford, J., Ellison, P., Evans, W. K., Gagliardi, A., Lacourciere, J., Lo, D., Mai, V., McNair, S., Minuk, T., Rabeneck, L., Rand, C., Ross, J., Smylie, J., Srigley, J., Stern, H., & Trudeau, M. (2009). Cancer Diagnostic Assessment Programs: Standards for the Organization of Care in Ontario. Current Oncology, 16(6), 29-41. https://doi.org/10.3747/co.v16i6.400

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