Accreditation From the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer

Franciscan Cancer Care is accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer (CoC). The Commission on Cancer is dedicated to improving survival and quality of life for cancer patients through standard-setting, prevention, research, education and monitoring comprehensive quality care. Only 25 percent of cancer programs in the United States carry this quality designation and we are proud to be a part of this quality-focused few.

The five essential elements of a Commission on Cancer-accredited program are:

• State of the art clinical services providing pretreatment evaluation (like tumor boards and care conferences), staging, treatment and clinical follow-up for patients with cancer. This care extends from initial screening and diagnosis through treatment and into end-of-life care as needed.
• A Cancer Committee leads the program direction through goal setting, monitoring the program activities, and evaluating patient outcomes and improving care.
• Cancer conferences or tumor boards provide a forum for patient consultation and contribute to physician education.
• The Quality Improvement Program is the mechanism for evaluating and improving patient outcomes.
• The cancer registry and database are the basis for monitoring the quality of cancer care.