The Commission on Cancer (CoC) of the American College of Surgeons (ACoS) has granted Three-Year Accreditation with Commendation to the Cancer Program at Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano. In addition, accredited cancer programs are assigned an Accreditation Category that describes the services available at the facility. Baylor Plano is the only hospital in Collin County to be designated a Community Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Program. This level of accreditation means that a facility treats 650 or more cancer patients each year and provides a wide range of diagnostic and treatment services available on site.
"We are thrilled that the American College of Surgeons has recognized Baylor Plano’s achievements in providing comprehensive cancer care to the patients we serve," said Mark Engleman, M.D., medical director of oncology and chair of the Oncology Advisory Board for Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano.
A facility receives a Three-Year Accreditation with Commendation following the inspection by a physician surveyor during which the facility must demonstrate a commendation level of performance with no deficiencies.
"Baylor Plano is pleased to have been recognized by The Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons for providing quality cancer care to the members of our community," said Jerri Garison, president, Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano.
Collin County residents have access to multidisciplinary and comprehensive cancer care at Baylor Plano as well as a wide range of services, including preventative screenings, access to genetic counseling and medical and radiation oncology. In addition, the hospital offers several support groups and seminars to assist current and former patients in connecting with other cancer patients. Baylor Plano also offers each patient access to an oncology nurse navigator. The nurse navigator assists the patient through their journey and helps them navigate their way through the many services and community resources available. To learn more about the cancer services offered at Baylor Plano visit www.BaylorHealth.com/PlanoCancer.
Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano is a 112-bed acute care hospital committed to serving North Texas residents with personalized care and advanced technology on a beautiful campus with hotel-like amenities and all private rooms. Services at the not-for-profit, fully-accredited facility include treatment for advanced spine deformities at the Baylor Scoliosis Center, neurosciences, orthopaedics, medical and radiation oncology, surgical weight loss, women’s services, gynecology, urology, gastroenterology, pulmonary medicine, sleep disorders, pain management, diabetes management and more. Patients have access to digital imaging onsite at Baylor Plano and at the Baylor Diagnostic Imaging Center at Craig Ranch, an outpatient department of Baylor Plano. The hospital is the first in North Dallas and Collin County to offer minimally invasive robotic surgery for gynecology and prostate procedures through the FDA-approved da Vinci® S Surgical System. The hospital has won several quality awards including the Texas Health Care Quality Improvement Award of Excellence and is designated a Pathway to Excellence™ hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Jerri Garison is president of Baylor Plano. For fiscal year 2009, Baylor recorded $3.9 billion in total assets and $452.4 million community benefit.For more information, visit www.BaylorHealth.com/Plano
For a physician referral, call toll free 1-800-4-BAYLOR or log onto www.BaylorHealth.com/Plano.
Established in 1922 by the American College of Surgeons, the CoC is a consortium of professional organizations dedicated to improving survival rates 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 and 42 national organizations that reflect the full spectrum of cancer care.
The core functions of the CoC include setting standards for quality, multidisciplinary cancer patient care; surveying facilities to evaluate compliance with the 36 CoC standards; collecting standardized and quality data from accredited facilities; and using the data to develop effective educational interventions to improve cancer care outcomes at the national, state, and local level.
The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that more than 1.5 million cases of cancer will be diagnosed in 2010. There are currently more than 1,400 CoC-accredited cancer programs in the US and Puerto Rico, representing close to 25 percent of all hospitals. This 25 percent of hospitals diagnose and/or treat 80 percent of newly diagnosed cancer patients each year. In addition, a national network of more than 1,600 volunteer Cancer Liaison Physicians provides leadership and support for the CoC Accreditation Program and other CoC activities at these local facilities.
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.
Receiving care at a CoC-accredited cancer program ensures that a patient will have access to:
- comprehensive care, including a range of advanced services and equipment
- a multispecialty, team approach to coordinate treatment options
- information about ongoing clinical trials and new treatment options
- access to cancer-related information, education and support
- a cancer registry that collects data on type and stage of cancers and treatment results and offers lifelong patient follow-up
- ongoing monitoring and improvement of care
- quality care close to home.
Cancer patient data are reported by each CoC-accredited cancer program to the CoC’s National Cancer Data Base (NCDB), a joint CoC/American Cancer Society Program. The NCDB currently contains patient demographics, tumor characteristics, and treatment and out-comes information for more than 18 million cancer patients diagnosed and treated at hospital cancer programs in the US between 1985 and 2004. These data account for approximately two-thirds of newly diagnosed cancer cases in the US each year.
NCDB data is regularly used to monitor and improve the quality of patient care delivered in CoC-accredited cancer programs. The CoC requires programs to implement quality improvement initiatives that promote the delivery of quality, multidisciplinary cancer care and lead to ongoing educational interventions with local providers in the CoC-accredited cancer programs.
Through an exclusive partnership with the American Cancer Society, the CoC provides the public with information on the resources, services, and cancer treatment experience for each CoC-accredited cancer program. This information is shared with the public on the American Cancer Society’s Web site at www.cancer.org and through the American Cancer Society’s National Cancer Information Center at 1-800-ACS-2345.
For more information about the Commission on Cancer, visit www.facs.org/cancer/index.html
*Represents preliminary information that will be reported to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Physicians are members of the medical staff at one of Baylor Health Care System's subsidiary, community or affiliated medical centers and are neither employees nor agents of those medical centers, Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano or Baylor Health Care System.
CONTACT:
Susan Hall
214.820.1817
susanh@baylorhealth.edu
Janeen Browning
469.814.2107
janeenbr@baylorhealth.edu
About Baylor Scott & White Health
As the largest not-for-profit health system in the state of Texas, Baylor Scott & White promotes the health and well-being of every individual, family and community it serves. It is committed to making quality care more accessible, convenient and affordable through its integrated delivery network, which includes the Baylor Scott & White Health Plan, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, the Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance and its leading digital health platform – MyBSWHealth. Through 51 hospitals and more than 1,200 access points, including flagship academic medical centers in Dallas, Fort Worth and Temple, the system offers the full continuum of care, from primary to award-winning specialty care. Founded as a Christian ministry of healing more than a century ago, Baylor Scott & White today serves more than three million Texans. For more information, visit: BSWHealth.com