While we missed seeing you in person, the January Biannual Meeting was exceptionally well-attended, and we were so gratified by your presence and engagement. For those of you who could not attend, please take some time to watch the morning and afternoon sessions (links are on the www.moqc.org website). Dr. Paul Hesketh’s presentation on management of nausea and vomiting in people receiving chemotherapy updated all of us on the best way to prevent and manage this common side effect. Dr. Bindu Potugari shared her work with an interdisciplinary team at IHA that markedly improved prescribing of olanzapine in patients on high emetic risk chemotherapy. The leadership exhibited by POQC as they address financial toxicity raised the salience of this critically important topic to MOQC members.
We are delighted that Christopher Friese, PhD, RN has agreed to serve as the Director of Patient-Reported Outcomes (PROs). Please read more about Dr. Friese and the PRO Task Force in the newsletter. We are beginning a statewide initiative to collect patient-reported outcomes to improve symptom management, the care experience, and, as shown in clinical trials, the clinical outcomes of our patients.
It’s hard to believe that we are already preparing for our regional meetings, and we all look forward to seeing you again. You’ll have a chance to meet our growing team and to get to know your regional project managers. In addition to reviewing our most recent performance data, we’ll collaborate on improving tobacco cessation counseling and will share details of the new tobacco measures that qualify for an additional fee schedule increase.
We’re pleased with our transition to Arbor Research as our data vendor partner. We expect to begin entering data into the new database at the end of this year with the transition complete by January 2023. Please let us know if you have any questions.
On a personal note, I am deeply grateful for all the work you do to take the best care of your patients during these challenging times. We hear you and appreciate you.
Dr. Jennifer Griggs
Program Director