The Commission on Cancer (CoC), a quality program of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) has granted three-year accreditation to the cancer program at Kingman Regional Medical Center. 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.
Because it is a CoC-accredited cancer center, KRMC’s WL Nugent Cancer Center 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.
Dr. Edgardo Rivera, medical oncologist at the WL Nugent Cancer Center said, “Making sure we meet the standards for accreditation has been a great collaborative effort between many staff and physicians at KRMC. With this recognition, we can assure our patients that they are getting the highest quality care so they can focus on their healing.”
The CoC Accreditation Program provides the framework for Kingman Regional Medical Center to improve its quality of patient care through various programs that focus on the full spectrum of cancer care. This includes 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 a CoC facility, they also have access to information on clinical trials and new treatments, genetic counseling, and patient-centered services including psychosocial support, a patient navigation process, and a survivorship care plan.
“This is true confirmation from an outside agency that KRMC offers state-of-the-art, evidence-based cancer treatment,” said Brighton Ncube, KRMC’s VP of ambulatory services.
Like all CoC-accredited facilities, Kingman Regional Medical Center 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.
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. The CoC provides the public with information on the resources, services, and cancer treatment experience for each CoC-accredited cancer program through the CoC Hospital Locator at https://www.facs.org/search/cancer-programs.
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.