Riverside Health is pleased to announce that the Riverside Cancer Care Network has received national accreditation as an Integrated Network Cancer Program from the Commission on Cancer (CoC), a quality program of the American College of Surgeons (ACS). To earn 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.
“We are honored to receive this accreditation from the American College of Surgeons,” says Dr. Aaron Chevinsky, Oncology Service Line Chief and Medical Director for the Riverside Cancer Care Network. “This accreditation is symbolic of the hard work and dedication from team members across the Riverside Cancer Care Network.”
The CoC Accreditation Program provides the framework for the Riverside Cancer Care Network 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. When patients receive care at a CoC accredited facility, they 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.
“Receiving this accreditation ensures that patients within the Riverside Cancer Care Network have access to exceptional patient-centered, multidisciplinary care close to home,” says Linda McKee, Associate Vice President for Riverside Cancer Care Network. “We are grateful for the dedication of our team members and the opportunity to partner with our patients, and their loved ones, as they walk through their journey with cancer.”
Like all CoC-accredited facilities, Riverside’s Integrated Cancer Care Network 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.
To learn more about Riverside Cancer Care Network, please visit riversideonline.com/cancercare.