What Are the Benefits of Being in a CoC-Approved Network Cancer Program?

For the Patient and Community, our Standards ensure:

• Quality of care close to home provided by one network system.
• Coordinated service locations and practitioners within one system.
• Comprehensive care offering a more complete range of state-of-the-art services and equipment within one system.
• Multidisciplinary team/facility approach to coordinate the best treatment options available.
• Access to cancer-related education and support within one system.
• Information about ongoing cancer clinical trials and new treatment options communicated throughout the network.

For the Facility and Medical Staff, our Approvals Program offers:

• A model for organizing and managing your network to ensure multidisciplinary, integrated, and comprehensive oncology services throughout the system.
• Sharing of cancer-related information on patients seen within the network for all those involved in providing cancer care.
• Recognition by other national health care organizations, including the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals Organization (JCAHO), as having established performance measures for high-quality cancer care across the network continuum.
• Monitoring of cancer patient outcomes using the network data collected by the cancer registry from all facilities involved.
• Information about ongoing cancer clinical trials and new treatment options communicated throughout the network.
• Free marketing and national public exposure by partnering with the CoC and American Cancer Society (ACS) in the Facility Information Profile System (FIPS)—an information sharing effort of resources and services and cancer experience for the ACS National Call Center and Web site. One record will exist that will encompass all network resources for public viewing.
• Participation in the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB)—a nationwide oncology outcomes database. Pooled data from all facilities will be displayed as one network program.
• Access to Benchmark Reports containing national aggregate data and network-specific data to assess patterns of care and outcomes relative to national norms and to monitor and improve care across the continuum.
• Participation in Special Studies for the ad hoc collection of specific data to address important cancer problems.
• Marketing tools provided to communicate CoC-approval and its benefits to the community.

For more information on becoming a CoC-Approved Network Cancer Program or to review the list of Approved Networks, see our Web site at www.facs.org/dept/cancer/index.html or contact the Approvals Program staff at the Commission on Cancer. www.facs.org 312-202-5288 7:30 am to 5 pm CDT

Revised February 18, 2008

Approvals Program

Commission on Cancer

Cancer Programs

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by the American College of Surgeons, Chicago, IL 60611-3211