Two Medical Oncology Groups Receive National Recognition

Louisiana Hematology Oncology Associates and Medical Oncology, LLC recognized for high-quality cancer care from largest oncology society in United States

(Baton Rouge, La.) Louisiana Hematology Oncology Associates (LHOA) and Medical Oncology, LLC, physician practices affiliated with Our Lady of the Lake Physician Group and Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center have been recognized by the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI^®) Certification Program LLC. QOPI is a subsidiary of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc. (ASCO^®), recognizing practices as successfully completing a three-year certification program for outpatient hematology-oncology services that meet nationally recognized standards for quality cancer care. LHOA has been QOPI-accredited since 2010 and this year marks Medical Oncology’s inaugural accreditation. “We are pleased to have two of the most renowned medical oncology groups in the Gulf South as part of our organization,” said Linda Lee, vice president, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center. “The talent and expertise these practices bring to patients is stellar and this QOPI^® certification underscores their excellence in cancer care.” “ASCO’s QOPI^® Certification is voluntary, so a practice that undertakes this process is demonstrating its commitment to providing patients with high quality care,” said ASCO President Howard A. “Skip” Burris III, MD, FACP, FASCO. “A practice that achieves certification has evaluated its processes, benchmarked its performance against other top-performing practices, and can be confident in its dedication to quality and safety excellence, as well as continues quality improvement.” QOPI® is a voluntary self-assessment and improvement program launched by ASCO in 2006 to help hematology-oncology and medical oncology practices assess the quality of the care they provide to patients. Through QOPI^®, practices abstract data from patients’ records up to twice per year and enter this information into a secure database. More than 750 oncology practices have registered for QOPI^®. The QOPI^® Certification Program, LLC was launched in January 2010, and nearly 300 practices are currently certified. This certification for outpatient oncology practices is the first program of its kind for oncology in the United States and in 2016 was expanded internationally. The QOPI^® Certification Program seal designates those practices that successfully met the standards and objectives of the QOPI^® Certification Program, which includes scoring above the threshold on the key QOPI^® quality measures and meeting chemotherapy safety standards established by ASCO and the Oncology Nursing Society. QOPI^® analyzes individual practice data and compares these to more than 170 evidence-based and consensus quality measures. The information is then provided in reports to participating practices. Individual practices also are able to compare their performance to data from other practices across the country. Based on this feedback, doctors and practices can identify areas for improvement. To become QOPI^® Certified, practices have to submit to an evaluation of their entire practice and documentation standards. The QOPI^® Certification Program staff and committee members then verify through an on-site survey that the evaluation and documents are correct and that the practices met core standards in areas of treatment, 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 administered, including adherence, toxicity, and complications
• Treatment planning
• Staff training and education
• Chemotherapy orders and drug preparation
• Patient consent and education
• Safe chemotherapy administration
• Monitoring and assessment of patient well-being.

QOPI^® and the QOPI^® Certification Program are projects dedicated to innovative quality improvement programs. For more information, please visit: https://practice.asco.org/quality-improvement/quality-programs. About Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center As a regional destination for cancer care, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center offers the most advanced technology and services provided by a dedicated team of nationally-recognized oncology experts. The Cancer Center provides best-practice, comprehensive care at every stage of the cancer journey, including disease site-specific multidisciplinary care teams, a robust clinical research program, extensive supportive care services and is the only facility in the Gulf South with the revolutionary Leksell Gamma Knife®Icon™. The American College of Surgeons has named the Cancer Center a recipient of its prestigious Outstanding Achievement Award for three consecutive survey cycles. As a nonprofit organization, donor generosity is essential to sustaining the mission of improving survivorship and lessening the burden of cancer for so many throughout Southeast Louisiana and beyond. For more information on the Cancer Center, and how you can become involved, please visit marybirdlake.org. About Our Lady of the Lake Physician Group With 500-plus healthcare providers across more than 100 locations, Our Lady of the Lake Physician Group is the area’s largest physician network. In addition to primary care, this experienced group of doctors specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of a broad range of illnesses and complex medical problems. For more information or to find a doctor, visit ololrmc.com.  0101C0mm4n1c About QOPI Certification Program LLC QOPI Certification Program LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc. (ASCO®) dedicated to recognizing exemplary commitment to safety and quality in oncology patient care. Practices that have achieved QOPI^® Certification have scored well on key QOPI^® quality measures and have met chemotherapy safety standards established by ASCO and the Oncology Nursing Society in various areas of treatment and chemotherapy safety.