MCCG Earns National Achievement Award for Oncology Services
MCCG Earns National Achievement Award for Oncology Services
Is One of 106 Honored from Commission on Cancer
MACON, GA (Friday, March 23, 2012) – When a physician surveyor from the Commission on Cancer (CoC) of the American College of Surgeons visited The Medical Center of Central Georgia in April 2011, the person found that the hospital's oncology services demonstrated a commendation level of compliance with seven standards that represent six areas of a high-quality cancer program – cancer committee leadership, cancer data management, clinical services, research, community outreach and quality improvement.
MCCG earned Three-Year Accreditation with Commendation, its third since 2005, in May 2011 because it showed compliance with at least one of those seven standards. But now it's been granted the prestigious Outstanding Achievement Award for doing so with all seven standards, putting the hospital in a select group of 106 currently accredited and newly accredited cancer programs across the United States.
MCCG also received a compliance rating for the remaining 29 cancer program standards.
Established in 2004, the CoC Outstanding Achievement Award is designed to recognize cancer programs that strive for excellence in providing quality care to cancer patients. The 106 cancer programs represent approximately 22 percent of 489 programs surveyed in 2011. A majority of recipients are community-based facilities; however, there were also teaching hospitals, National Cancer Institute-designated “Comprehensive Cancer Centers,” VA hospitals, and Network Cancer Programs that received the award.
Emory University Hospital in Atlanta was the only other Georgia hospital to have its cancer program awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award.
The Accreditation Program, a component of the CoC, sets quality-of-care standards for cancer programs and reviews the programs to ensure they conform to those standards. Accreditation by the CoC is given only to those facilities that have voluntarily committed to providing the highest level of quality cancer care and that undergo a rigorous evaluation process and review of their performance. To maintain accreditation, facilities with CoC-accredited cancer programs must undergo an on-site review every three years.
There are currently more than 1,500 CoC-accredited cancer programs in the US and Puerto Rico, representing 30 percent of all hospitals. CoC-accredited facilities diagnose and/or treat more than 70 percent of all newly diagnosed cancer patients each year.