To demonstrate an association between quality metric conformance and quality of life and outcomes in palliative cancer care, Dr. Arif Kamal of Duke Cancer Institute and colleagues created a Quality Data Collection Tool (QDACT). QDACT "is an electronic quality monitoring system for community-based palliative care, to document care quality and link metrics to outcomes in palliative cancer care," according to the study.

Dr. Kamal, who is the 2011 winner of the Chicago Supportive Oncology Conference's Young Investigator Award, said QDACT is platform agnostic and can be accessed through tablets, laptops or desktops.

The study's findings showed that using a data system like QDACT, quality metrics can be prospectively monitored in community-based palliative care patients with cancer.

Dr. Kamal explains his findings: