Tulane Medical Center earns cancer program recertification

Commission on Cancer certification recognizes Tulane’s comprehensive, patient-centered care

Tulane Medical Center was recently reaccredited by the Commission on Cancer (CoC) of the American College of Surgeons for maintaining levels of excellence in the delivery of comprehensive, patient-centered care.

To earn voluntary CoC accreditation, a cancer program must meet or exceed 34 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.

"We pride ourselves on taking a comprehensive, patient-centered approach to oncology care," said Laura Godel, Tulane Health System's associate vice president of oncology services. "From our bone marrow transplant program to treat blood cancers to our new multidisciplinary prostate cancer clinic, our physicians and caregivers work together to ensure that each patient receives the best, individualized treatment plan possible."

Because it is a CoC-accredited cancer center, Tulane Medical Center takes a multidisciplinary approach to treating cancer as a complex group of diseases requiring consultation among surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, diagnostic radiologists, pathologists and other cancer specialists. This multidisciplinary partnership results in improved patient care.

The CoC Accreditation Program provides the framework for the 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 followup for survivorship and 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 the cancer survivor's quality of life.

Like all CoC-accredited facilities, Tulane Medical Center maintains a cancer registry and contributes data to the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB), a joint program of the CoC and American Cancer Society (ACS). This nationwide oncology outcomes database is the largest clinical disease registry in the world. Data on all types of cancer is 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.

To learn more about Tulane Health System's cancer services care, please visit Tulane Healthcare.