The Importance of Measuring the Measures

Excerpt

“Preoperative Needle Biopsy as a Potential Quality Measure in Breast Cancer Surgery,” by Pocock et al., is a valuable contribution to our understanding of the role of preoperative needle biopsy as a quality indicator in breast surgery. The report is valuable not only because of the information presented, but also because it demonstrates the process that should be applied to any proposed quality measure before it is implemented in clinical practice: First to develop a hypothesis, then to collect and analyze data, and then return to the hypothesis with corrections or proposed improvements. In this instance, the authors propose that preoperative needle biopsy of any suspicious lesions before breast surgery is a useful quality measure, demonstrate how this can be applied in clinical practice, then use their results to formulate a tentative benchmark. Important practical information about real-world limitations of the measure are documented, and useful proposals are put forth to improve the ability to collect data and measure compliance in the future. …