University Medical Center New Orleans (UMC) announced that its cancer program has achieved full accreditation from the American College of Surgeons' Commission on Cancer (CoC).
As a result of this achievement, UMC has earned the distinction of being recognized as an ACS Surgical Quality Partner.
This achievement by UMC is attributable to its multidisciplinary approach – treating cancer as a complex group of diseases that requires consultation among surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, diagnostic radiologists, pathologists, and other cancer specialists. The CoC Accreditation Program provided a framework for UMC to evaluate and improve its quality of patient care through 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.
To become accredited by the CoC, a facility must also provide patients with access to information on clinical trials and new treatments, genetic counseling, and patient-centered services including patient navigation and a survivorship care plan that seeks to improve cancer survivors’ quality of life.