The EBMT Benchmarking project is intended to give hospitals that are EBMT members insight in their performance compared to other centres that report data to the EBMT. The reports cover a five-year period, but are sent every year. Benchmarks of centre performance are important for quality assurance, national authorities and patients. The project is carried out by the EBMT Leiden Study Unit and the Registry Unit. There is a close cooperation with the EBMT Business Unit, which is responsible for the activity survey.
The project consists of the following 4 steps:
- Centre selection: eligible centres are identified based on the volume of reported transplant obtained through the Activity Survey compared to the volume of registered in the EBMT database transplants.
- Data file preparation: the EBMT Registry Unit exports data for the to-be-analysed 5-year period from the EBMT Registry database.
- Statistical analysis: the EBMT Leiden Study Unit statistician performs statistical analyses of the data file and produces Benchmarking reports.
- Dissemination: the Principal investigator and data managers (active users of the EBMT Registry) from each eligible member centre receive the Benchmarking report. There are three documents shared:
- Benchmarking report in html format;
- Benchmarking report in pdf format;
- List of patient identifiers (UPN) in xlsx format.
National registries will be able to receive Benchmarking reports of their member centres in case the centre provided their agreement to share data.
Eligibility criteria for centres and important deadlines for data reporting are shared for each Benchmarking year separately.
Benchmarking 2025
For the Benchmarking 2025 report that analyses centre performance for 2019-2023, the eligibility criteria are similar to criteria applied in previous years, with the exception of the transplant period being benchmarked. The inclusion criteria are:
- Centres should be a full member at the time of the final data cut-off.
- Patient consent has to be available, with the patient consenting to data sharing. Anonymous events will not be considered for analysis.
- At least 80% of the transplants reported in the Activity Survey in the period 2019-2023 are registered in the EBMT Registry (or migrated from previous systems to the EBMT Registry).
- The first chronological allogeneic and/or autologous HCT of the patient has to be between January 1st 2019 and December 31st 2023.
- Survival status after the HCT has to be registered. Diagnosis and treatment information should be present in the EBMT Registry.
The Benchmark targets only the first autologous HCT and the first allogeneic HCT (including those preceded by an autologous transplant), which covers around 80% of all transplant activities. Additionally, not all diagnoses are analysed in benchmarking. Exclusion criteria are:
- Patients who were transplanted for a solid tumour.
- Patients who passed away between conditioning and HCT.
- Patients with the following diagnoses, who received an autologous HCT:
- Autoimmune disorders;
- Bone marrow failure;
- Other diagnosis, including histiocytic disorders;
- Hemoglobinopathies;
- Inherited disorders;
- MDS / MDS&MPN (CMML) / Other MDS/MPN;
- MPN.
- Paediatric patients undergoing autologous HCT (paediatric is defined as <18 years of age at HCT).
Benchmarking 2025 timelines
| Date | Activity |
|---|---|
| June 30 | Final deadline for data entry (cut-off date) |
| July 1 - 4 | Data file preparation |
| July 7 - September 24 | Statistical analyses and report preparation |
| September 29 - October 3 | Report distribution |