Comparison of QOPI measure conformance between oncology fellows and attending physicians.
162 Background: Quality improvement measures are uniformly applied to all oncology providers, regardless of their positions. Little is known about differences in conformance to these measures between oncology fellows and attending physicians. In order to tailor improvement interventions to these groups, we investigated conformance across QOPI measures for oncology fellows and attending physicians at the Durham VA Medical Center (DVAMC). Methods: Using data collected from the Spring 2013 QOPI cycle, we abstracted information from patients who had received care at the DVAMC between 2011 and 2013 and separated them based on their provider. To validate the data, we abstracted a subset of patient charts, limited to oral chemotherapy quality measures. Descriptive statistics and the Chi square test were calculated for each measure between the two groups. Results: A total of 97 patients were reviewed at DVAMC. Of these, 21 had a fellow and 47 had an attending as their main provider. Fellows and attendings performed similarly on 119 of 125 QOPI measures (core, end of life, symptom, colorectal, and NSCLC modules). Fellows were less likely to assess pain on the most recent visits when compared to attendings (52% vs. 77%, p=0.046) but more likely to document a management plan if the patient had moderate or severe pain (86% vs 75%, p=0.09). Attendings documented the plan for oral chemotherapy more often (93% vs. 60%, p=0.07). However, after the chart audit, we found that fellows actually documented the plan for oral chemotherapy 80% of the time (p=0.21). Fellows were more likely to document smoking status (95% vs. 64%, p=0.007) and to address smoking cessation (86% vs. 62%, p=0.048). Conclusions: Patient care practices tend to be similar between attendings and fellows overall; some of the significant differences may not remain significant after chart audit. Fellows generally mirror behaviors of attending physicians, and attendings have an important role in modeling best practice behaviors for fellows. Different quality measure standards may not be necessary between fellows and attendings.