2012 Initial Survey Notification
This communication serves as official notification from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer that the cancer program of {Facility Name & FIN} is due for survey approximately {Next Survey Date (mm/2012)}. We appreciate your facility's continued commitment to high quality cancer care and participation in the CoC survey process.
Please review the following information provided to assist you as you prepare for survey. The 2012 survey will include cancer program activity for the years 2009, 2010, and 2011. (2010 and the first three months of 2011 will not be part of the abstracting timeliness review.) The 2012 survey will be based on the Cancer Program Standards 2009, Revised Edition, which is located at: http://www.facs.org/cancer/coc/cocprogramstandards.pdf. The Survey Application Record (SAR) is to be completed with information from 2009 to current date with appropriate electronic documentation provided. The SAR is used by the cancer program to document compliance with the Commission's standards since the last survey.
The cancer registrar or designated staff is requested to review and/or update and save all contact information for the cancer program staff located on the Commission's 'Facility and Staff Contact Information' section of the SAR. The SAR and Survey Documentation page are currently accessible through CoC Datalinks at: https://web.facs.org/datalinks/. Please contact CoCDatalinks@facs.org if you require assistance with your User ID and/or Password.
In preparation for survey, the cancer committee should review the following materials:
- The current on-line version of Cancer Program Standards 2009, Revised Edition (specifically Chapters 1 - 8), http://www.facs.org/cancer/coc/cocprogramstandards.pdf
- The SAR Tips Sheet and Survey Documentation FAQ, which are located at:
- CoC Datalinks Activity Menu, https://datalinks.facs.org/NCIC_login.cfm, under 'Reference Guide'
- SAR menu, https://datalinks.facs.org/NCIC_login.cfm, under 'Reference Guide'
- CoC Website at http://www.facs.org/cancer/coc/accredited.html
On or around December 1, 2011, you will be notified in a separate email of the assigned surveyor's name and how to access the surveyor's profile and contact information for scheduling the survey date.
The on-site survey process for 2012 requires a 45 minute Chief Leadership Meeting between the surveyor(s) and at least one of the following facility administrators; Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Nursing Officer, Chief Information Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Medical Officer, etc., along with the Cancer Committee Chair, Cancer Liaison Physician and a representative from Marketing or Business Development. This 45 minute meeting is separate from the meeting the surveyor has with the Cancer Committee Team. This meeting will be incorporated into the 2012 survey agenda.
Survey extensions or postponements are discouraged, but if this becomes necessary, the program should review the 'Survey Extension Policy' on the CoC Website located at: http://www.facs.org/cancer/coc/surveyextension.html. A request for extension must be submitted in writing to Lisa Landvogt, Administrator, Accreditation and Standards, by August 6, 2011.
The survey fee for 2012 is $7,500 for individual cancer programs or $7,500 plus $3,750 for each facility within a network. An invoice for the survey fee is e-mailed to the registrar at the facility at least one month before the survey takes place. Payment of the fee is due within 30 days post-survey date.
Several tools and resources have been developed by the Commission to assist with survey preparation and are available on the 'Best Practices Repository' page of the American CoC Web site at: http://www.facs.org/cancer/coc/bestpractices.html.
SAR related questions should be forwarded with your facility name and FIN to SAR@facs.org.
Standards related questions and interpretations should be posted to the CAnswer Forum at http://cancerbulletin.facs.org/forums/.
Our Accreditation & Standards team members are also available for any other assistance. They can be reached as follows:
Asa Carter, CTR - acarter@facs.org or 312-202-5180
Lisa Landvogt, CTR - llandvogt@facs.org or 312-202-5314
Vicki Chiappetta, CTR - vchiappetta@facs.org or 312-202-5288
Debbie Etheridge, CTR - detheridge@facs.org or 312-202-5291
Karen Stachon - kstachon@facs.org or 312-202-5191
We look forward to working with you as you prepare for your accreditation survey.
Thank you.
American College of Surgeons
Commission on Cancer
Revised June 30, 2011