PEARL Study: Improvement of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Care
PEARL Study: Improvement of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Care
The main objective of the proposed study is to assess the effectiveness, feasibility and
 costs of a tailored strategy (developed in accordance with the barriers found and current
 practice) to improve care for patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL), compared to a
 common strategy of 'audit & feedback'.
In a previous study among 22 Dutch hospitals many gaps in the care for patients with
 non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL) were found, compared to best evidence as described in
 guidelines. In a problem analysis study, barriers and facilitators for good quality of
 NHL-care were assessed and a tailored implementation strategy was developed, based on these
 findings. The proposed study aims at the effectiveness, feasibility and costs of this
 tailored strategy to improve quality of care for patients with an NHL in a clustered
 randomized controlled trial in 19 Dutch hospitals.

 Multilevel regression analyses will be performed to evaluate the effectiveness of both
 strategies. Exposure to and experiences with the strategy elements will be analysed
 descriptively.

 Regarding the costs, the two strategies are compared with a health care perspective. The
 input of resources will be assessed by collecting volumes of consumed resources and
 multiplying these by the price of each resource unit; the implementation process and
 consequently costs will be estimated by an Activity Based Costing (ABC) approach. The output
 will be determined by the level of adherence to the NHL quality indicators.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Clinical diagnosis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma

 -  Diagnosed in one of the participating hospitals

 -  Able to read and understand Dutch