Implementation of practice guidelines.

Abstract

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center staff, in conjunction with Cambridge Technology Partners, has designed, developed, and begun to implement a disease management system (DMS) as a means of standardizing the care of the center's patients with cancer. The disease management system is centrally coordinated through disease management teams, which include physicians from each of the major oncology disciplines--radiation, medicine, and surgery--as well as specialists and other professionals involved in patient care. The system is comprised of four modules: system administration, treatment pathways, patient management, and outcomes analysis. In July 1966, the gynecology team began to pilot this program, and the remaining 16 disease management teams were incorporated, in phases, during the rest of 1996. The regional sites are being incorporated in 1997. After a brief summary of the basic features of the disease management system, this article describes the implementation process and the accomplishments to date.