Regional Cancer Center Accredited for Three Years

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

The McGlinn Family Regional Cancer Center at The Reading Hospital has received a Three-Year Accreditation with Commendation by the Commission on Cancer (CoC) of the American College of Surgeons (ACoS).  A facility receives a Three-Year Accreditation with Commendation following the on-site evaluation by a physician surveyor during which the facility demonstrates a Commendation level of compliance with one or more standards that represent the full scope of the cancer program (cancer committee leadership, cancer data management, clinical services, research, community outreach, and quality improvement).

The Accreditation Program, a component of the CoC, sets quality-of-care standards for cancer programs and reviews the programs to ensure they conform to those standards.  Accreditation by the CoC is given only to those facilities that have voluntarily committed to providing the highest level of quality cancer care and that undergo a rigorous evaluation process and review of their performance.  To maintain accreditation, facilities with CoC-accredited cancer programs must undergo an on-site review every three years.

Receiving care at a CoC-accredited cancer program ensures that a patient will have access to:

o  comprehensive care, including state-of-the-art services and equipment
o  a multispecialty, team approach to coordinate best treatment options
o  information about ongoing clinical trials and new treatment options
o  access to cancer-related information, education, and support
o  a cancer registry  that collects data on type and stage of cancers and  treatment results, and offers lifelong patient follow-up
o  Quality care close to home.

Cancer patient data are reported by each CoC-accredited cancer program to the CoC's National Cancer Data Base (NCDB), a joint CoC/American Cancer Society program.  The NCDB currently contains patient demographics, tumor characteristics, and treatment and outcomes information for more than 18 million cancer patients diagnosed and treated at hospital cancer programs in the US between 1985 and 2004.  These data account for approximately two-thirds of newly diagnosed cancer cases in the US each year.

NCDB data is regularly used to monitor and improve the quality of patient care delivered in CoC-accredited cancer programs.  The CoC requires programs to implement quality improvement initiatives that promote the delivery of quality, multidisciplinary cancer care and lead to ongoing educational interventions with local providers in the CoC-accredited cancer programs.

Through an exclusive partnership with the American Cancer Society, the CoC provides the public with information on the resources, services, and cancer treatment experience for each CoC-accredited cancer program.  The information is shared with the public on the American Cancer Society's web site at www.cancer.org and through the American Cancer Society's National Cancer Information Center at 800-ACS-2345.