Quality in Gastroenterology

There has been an increased focus on quality standards to help improve care and reduce morbidity and mortality for all patients. Compared to other fields of medicine, gastroenterology has lagged behind in establishing specific quality measures that facilitate reporting and downstream practice changes. However, the need for these measures is illustrated by the wide variations in care in many gastroenterological disorders. For example, there are often discrepancies in the prescriptions of proton pump inhibitors, the use of fecal occult blood testing, and treatment decisions and resource utilization for inflammatory bowel disease patients. Even in the field of endoscopy, the area of gastroenterology with the most mature quality metrics, there are variations in care as well as mixed uptake of quality reporting and adherence to quality standards. While further strides are necessary, there are encouraging developments on the horizon: societies remain dedicated to developing and disseminating quality metrics and standards, machine learning approaches to metric calculations are entering the mainstream, and the rising prominence of implementation science will help bridge gaps between knowledge and care delivery. Despite a slow start, the future of quality in gastroenterology is bright, and advances in this arena will continue to be vital in serving patients effectively and equitably.