Thoracic Surgery Oncology Quality Indicators (Part 1: Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer).
Modern performance measurement in health care builds on Codman's "end result" concept and Donabedian's triad of structure, process, and outcomes as interdependent components of quality. These domains support perioperative thoracic oncology care by guiding the selection of validated, measurable key performance indicators. Structure indicators address capacity and resources; process indicators assess adherence to evidence-based pathways; and outcome indicators capture clinical results. In non-small cell lung cancer, key themes include timely multidisciplinary treatment-driven care, accurate staging, appropriate surgery and adjuvant therapy, Enhanced Recovery after Surgery use, systematic quality review, and integration of patient-reported outcome measures to complement traditional outcomes.