Prostate Cancer Outcomes Registry Releases Annual Report

The third Annual Report from the Prostate Cancer Outcomes Registry – Australia and New Zealand (PCOR-ANZ) has been released today.  As a major endorsing society, USANZ is proud to be associated with this leading clinical quality initiative.  PCOR-ANZ places prostate cancer at the forefront of developing a clinical information system that enables clinicians to engage in benchmarking of outcomes and testing the implementation of evidence in the real world of clinical practice. In PCOR-ANZ, evidence uniquely combines with the preferences of men and the perspectives of clinicians to create an environment where improving the survival and quality of life for men with prostate cancer takes front position and motivates our system to change. 

Of significant achievement, and detailed in the 2019 Annual Report, is the recent implementation of bi-national Quality Indicator reporting, which now enables benchmarking of outcomes for clinicians and hospitals across Australia and New Zealand.  Reports are sent out twice a year, aimed at reducing unnecessary variation in treatment and reducing avoidable side effects. 

All hospitals and private practice urologists participating in PCOR-ANZ can now receive a confidential report indicating how they are performing against their peers and agreed best practice approaches.  It assists in identifying variations that are important to both patient survival and quality of life and helps to nudge the health system towards making positive changes.  We are already seeing signs of this working in Victoria, where there is an increasing trend in men with low-risk disease opting for active surveillance.

Read the PCOR-ANZ 2019 Annual Report or visit the Protate Cancer Outcomes Registry website.