The Commission on Cancer (CoC) has granted another 3-year accreditation to the cancer program at Owensboro Health Mitchell Memorial Cancer Center. To earn voluntary CoC accreditation, a cancer program must meet 34 quality-care standards, be evaluated every 3 years through a survey process, and maintain excellence in delivering comprehensive patient-centered care.
“This accreditation would not have happened without the teamwork of all the compassionate and resilient team members at the Mitchell Memorial Cancer Center,” said Tim Laugh, Owensboro Health Director of Cancer Services. “It is truly a blessing and honor to be a part of a team that is focused on our patients.”
The CoC Accreditation Program sets the standards for Mitchell Memorial Cancer Center’s cancer-care programs — including prevention, early diagnosis, cancer staging, optimal treatment, rehabilitation, life-long follow-up for recurrent disease and end-of-life care. Patients also have access to genetic counseling, support groups, a patient navigation process, and a survivorship care plan that documents each patient’s care to improve cancer survivors’ quality of life.
“At the Mitchell Memorial Cancer Center, these services are housed together in one location for the comfort and ease of patients,” a release from OH reads. “A relationship with the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center helps bring the latest treatments to patients close to home. Because the MMCC research program has made a significant commitment to clinical trials, patients have a higher chance of enrolling in a clinical trial and being part of tomorrow’s treatments today.”
Like all CoC-accredited facilities, the Mitchell Memorial Cancer Center maintains a cancer registry and contributes data to the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB), a joint program of the CoC and the 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 community should feel comforted knowing the Mitchell Memorial Cancer Center just achieved this prestigious accreditation without a single recommendation for improvement,” Laugh said.
The Mitchell Memorial Cancer Center is triple accredited. It also earned the American College of Radiology accreditation (ACR) renewal for Radiation Oncology, and holds an accreditation for Breast Program Excellence with the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC).
