Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States' Cancer Program Receives Accreditation From American College of Surgeons' Commission on Cancer

Program accredits more than 30 regional medical centers and awards special commendation to health plan for performance in five categories.

News provided by

Kaiser Permanente

Jan 24, 2019, 14:09 ET

ROCKVILLE, Md., Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Commission on Cancer, a quality program of the American College of Surgeons, has granted Three-Year Accreditation with Commendation to the cancer program at Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States. 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 center, Kaiser Permanente 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.

"Our remarkable Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group physicians are national leaders in the early detection of cancer as well as innovative, coordinated cancer treatment," said Bernadette Loftus, MD, former associate executive director, the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group. "Their dedicated and collaborative work is the reason why we recently earned a 3-year accreditation from the Commission on Cancer as a Comprehensive Community Cancer Care Program. I am proud that our team so skillfully demonstrated to the CoC how a non-hospital based, integrated delivery system across 30+ facilities provides integrated, comprehensive cancer care to our patients. In addition to securing accreditation, we also received five commendations — a rare accomplishment to occur as part of an initial accreditation. As the largest integrated medical group in the region, we are proud to have the opportunity to offer award-winning cancer care to so many patients."

The CoC Accreditation Program provides the framework for Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States to continue to enhance the quality of its 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 psycho-social support, a patient navigation process, and a survivorship care plan that documents the care each patient receives and seeks to improve cancer survivors' quality of life.

"We are extremely proud to earn this distinguished accreditation and honored to receive special commendation from the American College of Surgeons," said Kim Horn, regional president for Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States. "This is a testament to the highly coordinated, exceptional care our physicians and staff provide every day and signals to new and existing patients and their families that we are a trusted partner as they make important care decisions."

Like all CoC-accredited facilities, Kaiser Permanente maintains a cancer registry and contributes data to the National Cancer Data Base, 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 2019. 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 cancer patients. 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.

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. Its membership includes Fellows of the American College of Surgeons. For more information, visit: https://www.facs.org/quality-programs/cancer.

Patients considering treatment through Kaiser Permanente's new accredited programs can learn more about the services by visiting our oncology website.

About Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 12.2 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. Kaiser Permanente provides and coordinates complete health care services for more than 770,000 members through 30 medical centers in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit kp.org or follow us on Twitter, twitter.com/KPMidAtlantic or Facebook, www.facebook.com/kpthrive.

For more information:
Shana Selender, 301-816-6833
[email protected]

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente