Commission on Cancer (CoC) Accreditation

The American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer (COC) is a 100 year old organization that is a consortium of professional organizations dedicated to improving survival and quality of life for patients with cancer through standard setting, prevention, research, education and the monitoring of comprehensive quality care. There are 1500 COC accredited hospitals in the U.S. This comprises only 24% of hospitals in the U.S. which treat 70-75% of all patients in the U.S. who are being treated for cancer. The Commission provides standards for institutions to assist in structuring their cancer program to be effective in providing consistent and comprehensive care for their cancer patients. Surveys take place by the COC every three years to assure that accredited hospitals are maintaining their exemplary level of care.

• The clinical services provide state-of-the-art pretreatment evaluation, staging, treatment, and clinical follow-up for cancer patients seen at the facility for primary, secondary, tertiary, or end-of-life care.
• The cancer committee leads the program through setting goals, monitoring activity, evaluating patient outcomes, and improving care.
• The cancer conferences provide a forum for patient consultation and contribute to physician education.
• The quality improvement program is the mechanism for evaluating and improving patient outcomes.
• The cancer registry and database is the basis for monitoring the quality of care.