Infirmary Cancer Care at Thomas Hospital Earns National Accreditation From the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons

Fairhope, Alabama (Oct. 16)—The Commission on Cancer (CoC), a program of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) has granted Three-Year Accreditation to the cancer program at Thomas Hospital. 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.

Because it is a CoC-accredited cancer center, Infirmary Cancer Care at Thomas Hospital 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, and other cancer specialists. This multidisciplinary partnership results in improved patient care.

“It is a tremendous honor for our practicing physicians and team to earn this prestigious distinction. Our cancer program allows patients to receive high-quality cancer care, close to home, where they can still get the support they need from friends and family,” said Ormand Thompson, President of Thomas Hospital.

The CoC Accreditation Program provides the framework for Infirmary Cancer Care at Thomas Hospital 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 accredited facility, they also have access to information on clinical trials and new treatments, genetic counseling, and patient-centered services including psycho-social support, patient navigation, and a survivorship care plan that documents the entire spectrum of care each patient receives.

Like all CoC-accredited facilities, Infirmary Cancer Care at Thomas Hospital 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 1.6 million cases of cancer will be diagnosed in 2016. 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 https://www.facs.org/search/cancer-programs.