Palliative Care Quality Collaborative

The Palliative Care Quality Collaborative (PCQC) is a United States-based nonprofit organization focused on improving the quality of specialty palliative care through a unified national data registry. Established as a 501(c)(3) membership organization, PCQC serves as a centralized platform that collects, integrates, and analyzes program and patient-level data across palliative care providers nationwide.

Mission and Purpose

PCQC's mission is to enhance palliative care quality by providing robust clinical data that supports care teams in benchmarking, quality improvement, and research. The Collaborative facilitates data-driven insights to advance care delivery for patients with serious illnesses, thereby promoting better health outcomes and equity in palliative care services.

Activities and Programs

• National Palliative Care Data Registry: PCQC maintains the only unified specialty palliative care data registry in the U.S. This registry consolidates data from multiple sources, enabling comprehensive measurement and benchmarking of palliative care quality and outcomes.
• Data Collection and Reporting: The registry holds extensive clinical data, including over 175,000 patient encounters and information on nearly 49,000 unique patients, with more than 4.8 million data points completed. It supports over 1,200 active users and has gathered data through 450 program surveys and 6,000 survey responses.
• Quality Improvement and Benchmarking: By pooling data nationally, PCQC empowers participating palliative care programs to measure performance, identify gaps, and implement targeted quality improvement initiatives.
• Special Initiatives: PCQC has developed a voluntary COVID-19 case report to collect and share real-world experiences from palliative care clinicians treating patients impacted by the pandemic. This initiative encourages learning and adaptability in clinical practice without requiring membership or capturing identifying patient information.

Governance

The organization is governed by a board of directors and operates through collaborative engagement with its membership, which includes hospitals, health systems, and palliative care programs nationwide.

Impact and Recognition

PCQC represents a significant advancement in establishing uniformity and coordination in palliative care quality measurement. It was formed by merging three leading national palliative care registries to create a comprehensive resource that not only supports internal quality improvement and external benchmarking but also links program structure and performance to meaningful patient outcomes. The Collaborative is recognized for its role in fostering community and data-driven progress in the palliative care field.

Events and Community Engagement

PCQC hosts annual quality measurement conferences and virtual forums, such as Virtual Table Chats, to support learning, sharing of best practices, and engagement among clinicians and administrators involved in palliative care.

This organization exemplifies the growing emphasis on evidence-based practice and nationwide collaboration in improving care for individuals facing serious illnesses through palliative interventions.