Improving the Quality of Cancer Care at Community Hospitals

Objectives: Rural cancer patients in the United States face significant barriers to accessing high-quality care, contributing to cancer mortality rates that are approximately 15% higher than those in urban populations. These disparities are rooted in structural challenges, including provider shortages, financial constraints, limited access to specialized care, and a lack of technology. Similarly, hospitals within these communities also frequently face barriers like limitations in resources and infrastructure that hinder their ability to provide comprehensive oncology services. This highlights the necessity for scalable interventions to address these gaps effectively. The proposed implementation and evaluation plan targets this gap and creates a comprehensive, evidence-based program to improve the quality of cancer care at a community hospital in rural Texas.Methods/Design: Drawing from best practices identified in national studies and successful interventions designed by established rural oncology networks, this program promotes collaboration between Childress Regional Medical Center and UT Southwestern Moncrief Cancer Institute to expand access to oncology expertise and improve the quality of care delivered to the rural cancer community in Childress, Texas. The intervention includes three core strategies: provider cultural competency training, development of institutional partnerships, and implementation of telehealth services.Evaluation: Grounded in the Institute of Medicine’s healthcare quality framework, the program seeks to provide safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient, and equitable healthcare. This can be accomplished through measuring adherence to oncology clinical guidelines, readmission rates, patient satisfaction, call volume, virtual visit utilization, and provider engagement. Ongoing monitoring of these metrics will inform iterative improvements and overall program success.Conclusions: By addressing both provider- and system-level barriers, this model demonstrates a sustainable approach to reducing rural cancer disparities and improving both quality of care and patient access. The program serves as a replicable framework for other underserved regions.