Elderly Patients with Laryngeal Squamous Cell Cancer Benefit from Higher Quality Care

What are the associations between quality of care, short- and long-term treatment-related outcomes, and costs in elderly patients treated for laryngeal squamous cell cancer (SCC)?

Background: Cancer care in the United States has been identified as a major healthcare reform and quality improvement target. Cancer-specific quality indicator development requires the identification of process or outcome measures that are quantifiable and supported by evidence that an association exists between the measure and population values, preferences, or outcomes. Limited data exist regarding quality measures in head and neck cancer care.

Study design: Retrospective analysis of 2,370 patients diagnosed with laryngeal SCC from 2004 to 2007 in Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare data.

Setting: SEER-Medicare linked database.