About
What is the QUILS™ System?
We built the QUILS™ system to help program leaders measure the quality of their lung cancer screening programs, identify areas of strengths and opportunities for improvement, and create action plans to improve help outcomes in their communities.
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1. Proprietary QUILS™ Assessment
The QUILS™ Assessment is at the core of the QUILS™ System. It's a comprehensive measure of the performance of a lung cancer screening program across seven critical domains. The end result of taking the QUILS™ Assessment is our proprietary QUILS™ Index score, which gives a rating across each area of the lung cancer screening program that they will use to prioritize action. -
2. Individualized Feedback
The QUILS™ Group works with the lung cancer screening program to create an individualized feedback report, complete with recommendations on how to increase their overall QUILS™ Index score. The QUILS™ team provides a presentation to report on their findings and an opportunity to engage in discussion on areas of strength and opportunity. -
3. Industry-Leading Resources
Of course, it was not enough to know what a program’s weaknesses are – we also created a portal containing best-in-class resources to help these programs improve. Lung Cancer Screening Programs implementing the QUILS™ System have access to an ever-growing list of resources to help them improve across each domain. -
4. Coaching and Support
In addition to our DIY Resource center, Lung Cancer Screening Programs get direct access to our team and to the QUILS™ Community - an online community of lung cancer screening professionals sharing their wealth of knowledge with each other. -
5. Reassess and Improve
Lung Cancer Screening Programs who choose to stay in the QUILS™ System will have an opportunity to re-assess twice a year. This allows our team to monitor how changes in their program turn into better health outcomes in their community.
Addressing Kentucky’s Lung Cancer Burden
QUILS™ was developed from a collaborative research project focused on improving lung cancer screening quality and reducing the burden of lung cancer in Kentucky. Kentucky has consistently had the highest rates of lung cancer diagnoses and deaths in the country.
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Smoking
Kentucky is among states with the highest rates of smoking in the country. -
Harmful Chemicals
Kentucky residents have a higher exposure to radon, coal, heavy metals, and hazardous occupational factors. -
Poverty
Kentucky is among states with the highest rates of poverty, leading to tremendous health inequities.
Most lung cancer cases are diagnosed at a late stage and Kentucky public health, healthcare, governmental and nonprofit organizations decided it was time to work together to focus on changing Kentucky’s lung cancer story.
Measuring Progress
After 10 years of working with these ten lung cancer screening sites and remaining connected to the collective work of the Kentucky Cancer Consortium, the results were impressive.
Screening
Kentucky, a state that isn’t known for high rankings in health, improved to the #2 spot in the country for lung cancer screening rates.
National Average
Kentucky
Diagnosis
Late-stage lung cancer diagnosis rates have begun to dramatically decrease at a rate 2x faster in Kentucky than in the U.S. overall, and 3x faster in Appalachian Kentucky than the U.S. overall.
SEER 17 Excluding Kentucky
Kentucky Appalachian
NPCR
Kentucky
While there is still a long way to go and a lot of work ahead of us, these results show a lot of promise.
We are excited to take what we’ve learned in Kentucky to lung cancer screening programs across the nation.
Timeline of the QUILS™ System Evolution
Results of the National Lung Screening Trial are published, identifying a lung cancer-specific as well as an all-cause mortality reduction associated with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) in comparison to standard chest radiography (CXR) among individuals at high risk for lung cancer based on age and smoking history.
The Kentucky Cancer Consortium launches the Kentucky Lung Cancer Network, a statewide collaborative effort convening multi-sectoral partners with a shared goal to reduce the commonwealth’s nation-leading rates of lung cancer incidence and mortality.
The Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation (BMSF) engages the Kentucky Lung Cancer Network to discuss a funding opportunity dedicated to supporting statewide lung cancer survivorship initiatives.
The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) re-evaluates the available data on lung cancer screening (LCS) and allocates a B grade recommendation, encouraging implementation among individuals who meet specific eligibility criteria. The link with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) makes LDCT available to eligible individuals as a preventive benefit at no out-of-pocket cost.
The investigative team at the University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville, and the Lung Cancer Alliance (now Go2 for Lung Cancer) receive a large grant for over $7-million dollars from the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation to develop the Kentucky LEADS (Lung Cancer Education Awareness Detection Survivorship) Collaborative focused on (1) provider education, (2) survivorship care, and (3) prevention and early detection.
The Centers Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) completes the National Coverage Determination for LDCT and adopts coverage of lung cancer screening among Medicare beneficiaries who meet the eligibility criteria.
The Prevention and Early Detection Component of the Kentucky LEADS Collaborative develops the QUILS™ System 1.0 to facilitate implementation of high-quality lung cancer screening in diverse settings.
The QUILS™ System 1.0 is implemented and evaluated in then (10) lung cancer screening programs across Kentucky.
Data examining the QUILS™ System 1.0 demonstrates improvement in quality implementation of lung cancer screening. Kentucky's rates of lung cancer screening climb to some of the highest in the country.
The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) updates their annual lung cancer screening guidelines to adults aged 50 to 80 years who are asymptomatic, have a 20 pack-year smoking history and currently smoke or have quit within the last 15 years.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reconsiders the national coverage determination and updates their annual lung cancer screening guidelines to adults aged 50 to 77 years who are asymptomatic, have a 20 pack-year smoking history, and currently smoke or have quit within the last 15 years.
The QUILS™ Group partners with Anthem Medicaid to implement the updated QUILS™ System in a lung cancer screening program in Western Kentucky.
Learning & Growing
As we look to the future, we are excited to expand our footprint and serve more sites across the nation. We are currently looking to partner with lung cancer screening programs and funding partners to expand our impact even more.
We are now actively working to expand the impact of the QUILS™ system. We’re looking inside and outside Kentucky for lung cancer screening programs who are looking to make an even bigger difference in their communities and lead the way in lung cancer early detection. If that sounds like you, we’d love to write the next chapter together.
Our Team
Jamie Studts, PhD – Principal Investigator
Jennifer Knight, DrPH - Principal Investigator
Timothy Mullett, MD – Principal Investigator
Trey Alexander, MHA – Research Project Manager (Data Implementation)
Allyson Yates - Program Director
Our Collaborators
Initial Implementation Sites
Kentucky LEADS Collaborative, Organizational Support (Provider Education, Survivorship, Prevention & Early Detection)
Collaborating and Supportive Professional Organizations for Kentucky LEADS Collaborative ™/QUILS™ Group
Institutional Support
Current Project Collaborators:
