In 2008-2009, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) implemented a consensus-based process to develop standards for safe administration of chemotherapy to adult patients in the outpatient setting.
The ASCO/ONS chemotherapy safety standards are intended to reduce the risk of errors when providing patients with chemotherapy and provide a framework for best practices in cancer care. Specifically, they can inform practice policies and procedures, internal quality assessment, and external quality monitoring.
The standards are now revised and considered applicable to all oncology settings and are voluntary.
View the most recent ASCO/ONS Standards for Safe Chemotherapy Administration
Tools
ASCO suggests that hematology-oncology practice staff assess their own compliance with each of the ASCO/ONS chemotherapy safety standards. To help oncology practices review and develop policies and procedures needed to adhere to these chemotherapy safety standards, ASCO has developed an online guide of sample policies. The sample policies are posted in Word format to facilitate use in practice. The entire document, or specific sections, can be copied, saved or modified.
Download Sample Policies for Safe Administration of Chemotherapy
Methodology
A description of the ASCO/ONS chemotherapy safety standards process for development, consensus and refinement, and a discussion of the standards and results are described in detail.
Learn more
New Developments
The ASCO-ONS Standards for Safe Chemotherapy Administration is continuously engaged in maintaining patient safety standards. A panel of experts is being convened to examine standards that are specific to Oral Chemotherapy on December 2, 2011.
The goal of this meeting is to create safety standards that are applicable to diverse organizations that prescribe or supervise administration of oral chemotherapy to patients.
Meeting Materials
For more information contact: ASCO’s Quality and Guidelines Department, at 571-483-1670 or cancerquality@asco.org.
Disclaimer: These consensus standards, related to patient safety for chemotherapy administration, were originally developed jointly by ONS and ASCO for use in the ambulatory/outpatient setting. The current version reflects modifications agreed upon by ASCO and ONS which are intended to clarify the original intent of the standards and to allow for their application in inpatient settings. The standards are intended to reflect current thinking on best practices and, as such, are intended to be a “living” document; future modifications are expected.
The standards are not deemed comprehensive and do not account for individual patient variation. It is the responsibility of each administering agent to determine the best methods for chemotherapy administration for each patient. The standards are not medical advice or legal advice. To the extent that the standards conflict with applicable federal, state, or local legal requirements, practitioners should comply with those requirements. The administering agent is solely responsible for, and assumes all risks of, administering chemotherapy drugs notwithstanding any adherence to the standards herein. ASCO and ONS disclaim any and all liability with respect to the standards and the execution of the standards by any party.
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