Quality determinants and indicators for measuring colorectal cancer screening program performance in Canada (2013)

Discover more about standards and recommendations to promote quality assurance for colorectal cancer screening in this 2013 report

This report supports implementing and improving population-based colorectal cancer screening programs in Canada, and efficiently and consistently evaluating the performance of those programs. It also outlines specific quality determinants and indicators for colorectal cancer screening programs in Canada.

This document includes only the indicators that provide large-system measures, addressing colorectal screening programs’ core functions. Quality determinants contribute to a screening program’s quality through concepts, processes, and activities. Quality indicators are metrics that allow for practical, quantifiable, and reliable comparison.

Quality determinants and quality indicators are organized into the five domains of the colorectal-cancer screening pathway:

  1. Participation
  2. Entry-Level Screening Test
  3. Follow-up Colonoscopy
  4. Diagnosis
  5. Initiation of Treatment, and Colorectal Cancer Screening Program Outcomes

This report classifies performance and quality indicators as either early or long term. Early indicators are used at the beginning of a screening program’s life to measure the quality of the process and to evaluate its potential longer-term impact. Long-term indicators measure colorectal screening’s impact in the population, like lowering the rate of colorectal cancer and the number of related deaths.

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