The Commission on Cancer (CoC), a quality program of the American College
of Surgeons (ACS), has granted three-year accreditation to the cancer
program at King’s Daughters Medical Center in Ashland, Ky.
King’s Daughters cancer program has been continuously accredited
by the CoC for 25 years, first earning accreditation in 1993.
Established in 1922 by the American College of Surgeons, the CoC is a consortium
of professional organizations dedicated to improving patient outcomes
and quality of life for cancer patients through standard-setting, prevention,
research, education, and the monitoring of comprehensive, quality care.
To earn voluntary CoC accreditation, a cancer program must meet 34 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.
As a CoC-accredited cancer center, King’s Daughters takes a collaborative
approach, treating cancer as a complex group of diseases. Members of the
cancer team include surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, diagnostic
radiologists, pathologists, nurse practitioners, nurses, pharmacists,
social workers, pastoral care, dietitians, patient navigators, physical
therapists, and administrative personnel, along with community-based services
including the American Cancer Society and Community Hospice.
These collaborative partnerships, all working together, result in improved
patient care.
“This accreditation is a testament to the dedication and hard work
that every member of the cancer team puts forth on the behalf our patients
on a daily basis,” said David Goebel, M.D., hematologist/oncologist
KDMS-Tri-State Hematology/Oncology. “Accreditation by the Commission
on Cancer demonstrates King’s Daughters commitment to providing
the highest-quality, and most effective up-to-date cancer care to our
community.”
The CoC Accreditation Program provides the framework for King’s Daughters
to improve its quality of patient care through various cancer-related
programs that focus on the full spectrum of cancer care including 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 psycho-social support, a patient
navigation process, and a survivorship care plan that documents the care
each patient received and seeks to improve cancer survivors’ quality of life.
Like all CoC-accredited facilities, King’s Daughters maintains a
cancer registry and contributes data to the National Cancer Data Base
(NCDB), a joint program of the CoC and 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
centers, 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.
The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 1.7 million cases
of cancer will be diagnosed in 2018. There are currently more than 1,500
CoC-accredited cancer programs in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, CoC-accredited
facilities diagnose and/or treat more than 70 percent of all newly diagnosed
patients with cancer. When cancer patients choose to seek care locally
at a CoC-accredited cancer center, they are gaining access to comprehensive,
state-of-the-art cancer care close to home. The CoC provides the public
with information on the resources, services, and cancer treatment experience
for each CoC-accredited cancer program through the CoC Hospital Locator at
FACS.org/search/cancer-programs.
Members of the oncology team at King's Daughters include from left,
radiologist Mayola Boykin, M.D.; radiation oncologist Jeffrey Lopez, M.D.;
hematologists/oncologists David Goebel, M.D., and Vinay Vermani, M.D.;
pathologist Katalin Kovacs, M.D., and pulmonologist Bjorn Thorarinsson, M.D.