Cancer Program earns National Reaccreditation from the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons
June 16, 2023
HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital takes 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. This multidisciplinary partnership results in improved patient care.
HSHS St. Anthony’s Medical Director of Women’s Wellness and Cancer Care Services Dr. Ruben Boyajian shared, “Receiving this reaccreditation by the Commission on Cancer demonstrates the joint dedication and collaboration between St. Anthony’s and Crossroads Cancer Center in providing the best possible care for cancer patients in this region,” he said.
The CoC Accreditation Program provides the framework for St. Anthony’s to improve its 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.
Receiving care at a CoC-accredited cancer program hospital such as St. Anthony’s in collaboration with Crossroads Cancer Center ensures patients will also have access to information on clinical trials and new treatments, genetic counseling, and patient-centered services including psycho-social support, a patient navigation process, and a survivorship care plan that documents the care each patient receives and seeks to improve cancer survivors’ quality of life.
Like all CoC-accredited facilities, St. Anthony’s maintains a cancer registry and contributes data to the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB), a joint program of the CoC and American Cancer Society. This 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. These reports help CoC facilities with their quality improvement efforts.
The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 1.9 million cases of cancer will be diagnosed in 2023. There are currently more than 1,500 CoC-accredited cancer programs in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, CoC-accredited facilities diagnose and/or treat more than 70% of all newly diagnosed patients with cancer. When cancer patients choose to seek care locally at a CoC-accredited cancer center, they are gaining access to comprehensive, state-of-the-art cancer care close to home.
