Baptist Health Hardin Earns National Reaccreditation from the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons
To earn voluntary CoC reaccreditation, a cancer program must meet 34 CoC quality care standards.
ELIZABETHTOWN, KY (June 22, 2022)—The Commission on Cancer (CoC), a quality program of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) has granted Three-Year Reaccreditation to the cancer program at Baptist Health Hardin. To earn voluntary CoC reaccreditation, a cancer program must meet 34 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.
Because it is a CoC-accredited cancer center, Baptist Health Hardin 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, and other cancer specialists. This multidisciplinary partnership results in improved patient care.
“Baptist Health Hardin is committed to high standards when it comes to patient care, and we are so proud to be receive reaccreditation by the Commission on Cancer,” said Baptist Health Hardin President Dennis Johnson. “This reaccreditation is a testament to our staff who go above and beyond to care for every patient as an individual, providing care, comfort and compassion at a time when it is needed most. For our patients, having the Commission on Cancer’s stamp of approval is reassurance that they need look no further than their neighbors right here in central Kentucky to receive excellence in care.”
The CoC Accreditation Program provides the framework for Baptist Health Hardin 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 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 very proud of the entire oncology service line at Baptist Health Hardin,” stated Dan Martin, PT, MPT, assistant vice president, Oncology and Rehabilitation Services. “To be reaccredited by a regulating body as respected as the Commission on Cancer – and to do so without any deficiencies – is quite an accomplishment. It represents a commitment to excellence in cancer care that we are blessed to have in our community. ”
Like all CoC-accredited facilities, Baptist Health Hardin maintains a cancer registry and contributes data to the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB), 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 2018. 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 patients with cancer. 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 at https://www.facs.org
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: www.facs.org