Kaiser Permanente, the Mid-Atlantic region’s leading health system, has received another Three-Year Accreditation with Commendation from the Commission on Cancer (CoC), a quality program of the American College of Surgeons. The Commission on Cancer awards this voluntary designation to cancer programs that meet 34 quality care standards and maintain levels of excellence in the delivery of comprehensive patient-centered care. The health system has been accredited by the Commission on Cancer since 2018, when it first applied for the designation.
“At Kaiser Permanente, our teams work in tight coordination to ensure that members diagnosed with cancer receive the best possible health outcomes,” said Ruth Williams-Brinkley regional president for Kaiser Permanente. “This distinguished accreditation exemplifies the comprehensive and high-quality cancer care that our dedicated physicians and staff provide to our members every day.”
As a CoC-accredited comprehensive cancer care program since 2018 across Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC, Kaiser Permanente takes a multidisciplinary approach to treating cancer as a complex group of diseases. This approach benefits from close collaboration among surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, diagnostic radiologists, pathologists, geneticists, and other cancer specialists. This unique, multidisciplinary partnership results in improved patient care. Kaiser Permanente members in the Mid-Atlantic have access to over 1,700 Permanente physicians spanning over 60 subspecialties, all connected to a patient’s medical record with care available year-round.
“Our physicians leverage technology, cutting-edge research and close coordination between numerous specialties to provide nation leading cancer care to our diverse patients in Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia,” says Richard McCarthy, MD, executive medical director, Kaiser Permanente and the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group. “As part of the largest integrated, multispecialty medical group in the United States, our physicians show compassion in providing exceptional medical care in preventing, diagnosing, and treating cancers. Data shows that our cancer patients have lower mortality rates because of our care.”
The Commission on Cancer Accreditation Program provides a framework for cancer programs to enhance the quality care provided to patients through various cancer-related programs that focus on the full spectrum of cancer care including Instant Mammogram Screening Results, screening for lung and colorectal cancer, prevention, early diagnosis, cancer staging, a cancer care team working together to provide best plan of care and optimal treatment, rehabilitation, life-long follow-up for recurrent disease, and end-of-life care. When patients receive care at one of Kaiser Permanente’s 39 CoC-accredited medical facilities, they also have access to clinical trials and new treatments, genetic counseling, cancer support groups, 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.
Kaiser Permanente 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 care programs, 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 programs with their quality improvement efforts.
To learn more about cancer care at Kaiser Permanente’s visit the health system’s oncology website or the Permanente Medicine cancer care page.
About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve almost 12.5 million members in 8 states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group physicians, specialists, and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery, and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education, and the support of community health. For more information, go to about.kp.org
