CHICAGO: The Commission on Cancer (CoC) of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) has granted its 2019 Outstanding Achievement Award to a select group of 48 accredited cancer programs throughout the United States. Award criteria were based on qualitative and quantitative surveys of cancer programs conducted throughout the year.
Visit the ACS website for a list of these award-winning cancer programs.
The purpose of the award is to raise the bar on quality cancer care, with the ultimate goal of increasing awareness about quality care choices among cancer patients and their loved ones. In addition, the award is intended to:
- Recognize those cancer programs that achieve excellence in providing quality care to cancer patients
- Motivate other cancer programs to work toward improving their level of care
- Facilitate dialogue between award recipients and health care professionals at other cancer facilities for the purpose of sharing best practices
- Encourage honorees to serve as quality-care resources to other cancer programs
“More and more, we’re finding that patients and their families want to know how the health care institutions in their communities compare with one another,” said Lawrence N. Shulman, MD, MACP, Chair of the CoC. “They want access to information in terms of who’s providing the best quality of care, and they want to know about overall patient outcomes. Through this recognition program, I’d like to think we’re playing a small but vital role in helping them make informed decisions on their cancer care.”
The 48 award-winning cancer care programs represent approximately seven percent of programs surveyed by the CoC January 1–December 31, 2019. “These cancer programs currently represent the best of the best when it comes to cancer care,” added Dr. Shulman. “Each of these facilities is not just meeting nationally recognized standards for the delivery of quality cancer care, they are exceeding them.”
About the Commission on Cancer’s Outstanding Achievement Award
Established in 2004, the CoC’s Outstanding Achievement Award is designed to recognize cancer programs that strive for excellence in providing quality care to cancer patients. Programs are evaluated on 34 cancer program standards categorized within one of four cancer program activity areas: cancer committee leadership, cancer data management, clinical services, and quality improvement. Programs are further evaluated on six commendation standards. Award recipients must have received commendation ratings in all seven commendation standards, in addition to receiving a compliance rating for each of the 26 remaining cancer program standards. For more information on program standards, visit: www.facs.org/quality-programs/cancer/coc/standards.
The CoC’s accreditation program encourages hospitals, treatment centers and other facilities to improve their quality of patient care through various cancer-related services. There are currently more than 1,500 CoC-accredited cancer programs in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. For more information on the CoC, visit: www.facs.org/quality-programs/cancer/coc.
Updated March 3, 2020
