Eisenhower Lucy Curci Cancer Center Earns Re-Accreditation

From Eisenhower Health:

January 22 2020

Rancho Mirage, CA (January 21, 2020) The Commission on Cancer (CoC), a quality program of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) has granted Three-Year Accreditation to Eisenhower Lucy Curci Cancer Center. To earn voluntary CoC accreditation, 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, Eisenhower Lucy Curci Cancer Center 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.

“Approval by the American College of Surgeons is a testament to the quality of services the Cancer Center offers including access to comprehensive, state-of-the-art cancer care, clinical trials, new treatments and genetic counseling,” says Katie Schnaser, MHA, FACHE, Chief Administrative Officer, Eisenhower Lucy Curci Cancer Center. “Earning re-accreditation underscores the Cancer Center team’s tireless efforts for providing comprehensive cancer care to our patients each and every day.”

The CoC Accreditation Program provides the framework for the Cancer Center 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.

Like all CoC-accredited facilities, Eisenhower Lucy Curci Cancer 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. 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.

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/search/cancer-programs.

Eisenhower Health is a not-for-profit, comprehensive health care institution that includes the 463-bed Eisenhower Hospital, the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center at Eisenhower and the Annenberg Center for Health Sciences at Eisenhower. The Betty Ford Center is also located on the Eisenhower campus. Eisenhower is renowned for its Centers of Excellence in Orthopedics, Cardiovascular, Neuroscience and Oncology. Situated on 130 acres in Rancho Mirage, and with outpatient clinics across the valley, Eisenhower Health has provided a full range of quality medical and educational services for more than 45 years for residents and visitors to the greater Coachella Valley. Eisenhower has earned ANCC Magnet Recognition® for professionalism in nursing and excellence in patient care. The first accredited teaching hospital in the valley, Eisenhower trains physician residents in Internal Medicine, Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine. For more information, visit EisenhowerHealth.org or follow Eisenhower Health on social media.

This press release was produced by the Eisenhower Health. The views expressed here are the author’s own.