Aims: The Victorian Lung Cancer Registry is a clinical quality registry designed with the aim of improving the quality of care delivered to Victorians with lung cancer by collecting and assessing management, treatment and outcome data on all new cases of lung cancer.
Methods: Case ascertainment is derived from institutional ICD-10 coding and participant consent occurs via an “opt-off” system. Follow up and outcome measures are collected at baseline, 6 and 12 months after diagnosis capturing survival, treatment and quality of life.
Results: Data was collected on 690 patients from 1 July 2012 to 31 June 2013 from 8 Victorian Hospitals (3 public and 3 private metropolitan and 2 regional). Evidence of distress screening was available for 26% of subjects. Diagnosis was confirmed < 28 days from referral in 67% of cases across institutions. A statement of ECOG status was available in 46% of cases and clinical TNM staging in 49% prior to treatment. A record of multidisciplinary team meeting presentation was available in 59% of cases. First treatment was initiated < 42 days from diagnosis in 76% of cases. Curative surgery was provided for 26.5% of subjects, curative chemotherapy <5% and curative radiotherapy < 5%.
Key conclusions: The evaluation of registry outcomes at governance, administrative and clinical levels may identify targets for quality and service improvement and further define safety measures. The comparison of performance outcomes across institutions and sectors may drive competitive recruitment to improve measures on a longitudinal basis.