Cancer Center Earns Outstanding Achievement Award from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer

Only Louisiana cancer center to receive honor during survey cycle

(Baton Rouge, La.) Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center was recently awarded the 2017 Outstanding Achievement Award by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer—achieved by only seven percent of cancer facilities nationally. The Cancer Center is the only Louisiana accredited program to receive this national honor for surveys performed between January 1 – June 30, 2017 and the only one in the region to receive the award three times consecutively. “More and more, we’re finding that patients and their families want to know how the health care institutions in their communities compare with one another,” said Lawrence N. Shulman, MD, FACP, chair of the Commission on Cancer. “They want access to information in terms of who’s providing the best quality of care, and they want to know about overall patient outcomes. Through this recognition program, I’d like to think we’re playing a small, but vital role, in helping them make informed decisions on their cancer care.” The purpose of the Outstanding Achievement Award is to encourage cancer programs to raise the bar on quality cancer care, with the ultimate goal of increasing awareness about high quality, patient-centered care. In addition, the award is intended to:

• Recognize those cancer programs that achieve excellence meeting the CoC Standards
• Motivate other cancer programs to work toward improving their level of quality cancer care
• Facilitate dialogue between award recipients and healthcare professionals at other cancer facilities for the purpose of sharing best practices
• Encourage honorees to serve as quality care resources to other cancer programs

“The Cancer Center approaches medicine as an art and science, treating every individual with the compassion and excellence we’d expect for ourselves or our loved ones,” said John Lyons, MD, chair of the Cancer Center’s Cancer Committee. “We have assembled a world-class team, dedicated to providing the highest level of cancer care in the Gulf South, and we thank the community for its continued support in helping us to improve survivorship and lessen the burden of cancer for thousands of patients and their families each year.” The Cancer Center was evaluated on 34 program standards categorized within five cancer program activity areas: program management, clinical services, continuum of care services, patient outcomes and data quality. The cancer program was further evaluated on seven commendation standards. To be eligible, all award recipients must have received commendation ratings in all seven commendation standards, in addition to receiving a compliance rating for each of the 27 other standards. Cancer programs are surveyed on a triennial cycle, based on care provided over the last three years. This means the Cancer Center has received the Outstanding Achievement Award for work performed over the last nine years. “Our wonderful patients and their families, who we have the privilege of serving, are our ultimate inspiration and drive our constant pursuit of safely expanding the boundaries of cancer care,” said Linda Lee, Cancer Center administrator. “There were many areas within the Cancer Center acknowledged by the Commission on Cancer, and I am so proud of this accomplishment; it’s a statement to our physicians and team members’ talents and commitment and the quality, breadth and depth of our comprehensive cancer care.” Earlier this year, the Cancer Center was reaccredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer with Gold-level Commendation. As a CoC-accredited facility for more than 20 years, the 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. Visit marybirdlake.org/outstanding for more highlights on this award and how the Cancer Center is advancing cancer care in the region.   About Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center As a regional destination for cancer care, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center offers the most advance technology and services provided by a dedicated team of nationally-recognized oncology experts. The Cancer Center provides best-practice, comprehensive care at every stage of the cancer journey, including disease site-specific multidisciplinary care teams, a robust clinical research program, extensive supportive care services and is the only facility in the Gulf South with the revolutionary Leksell Gamma Knife®Icon™. In 2017, the Cancer Center received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. As a nonprofit organization, donor generosity is essential to sustaining the mission of improving survivorship and lessening the burden of cancer for so many throughout Southeast Louisiana and beyond. For more information on the Cancer Center, and how you can become involved, please visit marybirdlake.org. About the Commission on Cancer 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/cancer.