The Franciscan Health cancer programs in Michigan City, Crown Point and Olympia Fields have earned three-year accreditation from the Commission on Cancer (CoC), a quality program of the American College of Surgeons (ACS).
To earn voluntary CoC accreditation, a cancer program must meet 34 CoC quality care standards, be evaluated every three years through a survey process, and maintain levels of excellence in the delivery of comprehensive patient-centered care.
Franciscan Health says their CoC-accredited cancer centers take a multidisciplinary approach to treating cancer as a complex group of diseases that requires consultation among surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, diagnostic radiologists, pathologists, and other cancer specialists. Franciscan says multidisciplinary partnership results in improved patient care.
Franciscan went on to say “The CoC Accreditation Program provides the framework for Franciscan Health’s cancer programs to improve their quality of patient care through various cancer-related programs that focus on the full spectrum of cancer care including prevention, early diagnosis, cancer staging, optimal treatment, rehabilitation, life-long follow-up for recurrent disease and end-of-life care.”
When patients receive care at the cancer centers in Michigan City, Crown Point and Olympia Fields, they also have access to information on clinical trials and new treatments, genetic counseling, and patient-centered services including psycho-social support, nurse navigation, and a survivorship care plan that documents the care each patient receives and seeks to improve cancer survivors’ quality of life.
Franciscan Health maintains a cancer registry and contributes data to the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB), a joint program of the CoC and American Cancer Society. The nationwide oncology outcomes database is the largest clinical disease registry in the world. Data on all types of cancer are tracked and analyzed through the NCDB and used to explore trends in cancer care. CoC-accredited cancer centers, in turn, have access to information derived from this type of data analysis, which is used to create national, regional, and state benchmark reports. The reports help CoC facilities with their quality improvement efforts.
Established in 1922 by the American College of Surgeons, the CoC is a consortium of professional organizations dedicated to improving patient outcomes and quality of life for cancer patients through standard-setting, prevention, research, education, and the monitoring of comprehensive, quality care. Its membership includes Fellows of the American College of Surgeons. For more information, visit: www.facs.org/cancer