Data: The New Currency in Healthcare Improvement

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Healthcare quality improvement is dependent on the gathering and interpretation of practice data. As a result, urology practices must be dedicated to the advancement of care and achievement of quality outcomes through protocol development and data integration, Raoul S. Concepcion, MD, believes.

The Large Urology Group Practice Association (LUGPA) was established with the purpose of enhancing communication among large groups, allowing for benchmarking of operations, promoting quality clinical outcomes, developing new opportunities, and improving advocacy in the legislative and regulatory arenas. LUGPA’s current secretary, Neal D. Shore, MD, is currently utilizing benchmarking activities around the use of active surveillance in prostate cancer. Concepcion notes that past benchmarking activities involved tools, such as the CaPSURE database and the PROCEED registry.

Data can be utilized for evidence-based protocols at the point of care, notes Sanford J. Siegel, MD. These protocols can aid in keeping oncologists and urologists up-to-date, which is a challenge with the influx of so much new information. Siegel adds that examples of protocol use in erectile dysfunction demonstrated an increase not only in knowledge but also in reimbursements.