Brighton, MA –The Commission on Cancer (CoC), a quality program of the American College of Surgeons, has granted Three-Year Accreditation with Commendation to the cancer program at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center. To earn voluntary CoC accreditation, a cancer program must meet or exceed the 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. Three Year Accreditation with Commendation is only awarded to a facility that exceeds standard requirements at the time of its triennial survey.

As a CoC-accredited cancer program, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center takes a multidisciplinary approach to treating cancer as a complex group of diseases that requires consultation among surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, diagnostic radiologists, pathologists, geneticists and other cancer specialists. This collaboration results in improved patient care.

“This accreditation is important because it designates us as a top-rated center for treatment of patients with cancer in the Boston area,” said Harrison Bane, president of St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center. “It is an honor to be recognized once again by the Commission on Cancer for the scope, quality, and outstanding care experience provided by our multidisciplinary team that also includes our medical oncology partner, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at St. Elizabeth’s.”

The CoC Accreditation Program provides the framework to enhance the quality of patient care through various cancer-related programs that focus on the full spectrum of cancer care. These include 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 facility, they also have access to information on clinical trials and new treatments, genetic counseling, and patient-centered services including psychosocial support, a patient navigation (more) St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center Commission on Cancer Accreditation Page 2 process, and a survivorship care plan that documents the care each patient receives and seeks to improve cancer survivors’ quality of life.

Like all CoC-accredited facilities, St. Elizabeth’s maintains a cancer registry and contributes data to the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB), a joint program of the CoC and the 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 programs, 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.

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