CoC Standard 7.1: Quality Measures Update

Starting with CoC Site Visits in 2026, Standard 7.1: Quality Measures will be reinstated as an accreditation requirement. During 2025, programs must review their performance on the selected quality metrics, identify any deficiencies, and document their review and any appropriate actions in the cancer committee minutes.

The required quality measures that must be reviewed during 2025 are:

• C12RLN: For patients undergoing a colon resection for colon cancer, at least 12 regional lymph nodes are removed and pathologically examined at time of resection.
• ACT: For patients under the age of 80 with surgically-managed pathologic stage III colon cancer (N>0), adjuvant chemotherapy is initiated within 4 months (120 days) of diagnosis, or recommended.
• LCT: For patients with surgically managed NSCLC, pathologically staged T2 and >4cm, or T>=3, or N>0, systemic therapy (chemotherapy, immunotherapy or targeted therapy) was initiated within the 3 months prior to surgery or after surgery, or was recommended.
• BCSdx: For patients with AJCC Clinical Stage I-III breast cancer, the first therapeutic surgery in a non-neoadjuvant setting is performed within and including 60 days of diagnosis.

Programs can achieve compliance with standard 7.1 though one of two pathways:

• Program performance meets the performance threshold for each quality measure, or
• If the performance threshold is not met, an action plan must be developed and implemented to improve performance

The performance threshold for each quality measure will be available once the dashboard and Quality Measure Operational Reports are updated in mid-2025. Further details on RCRS quality measure reports will be announced in spring of 2025.

Questions about the requirements of Standard 7.1 may be submitted to the Standard 7.1 section of the CAnswer Forum. Questions about any quality measure should be submitted to the Quality Measures section of the CAnswer Forum.