Space Coast Cancer Center One of 10 Oncology Practices To Begin National Accreditation Process For Oncology Medical Home
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Space Coast Cancer Center announced its participation in the pilot of a national launch of an accreditation program for the Oncology Medical Home (OMH).
This accreditation program is the result of a collaborative effort with a steering committee of cancer care organizations, advocacy organizations, insurers, the Community Oncology Alliance (COA), and the Commission on Cancer (CoC).
Space Coast Cancer Center is among just 10 practices in the United States selected to pilot accreditation standards by demonstrating their compliance with standards and guidelines for this program. This includes an on-site survey by the Commission on Cancer.
Nancy Payne
“An oncology medical home provides enhanced patient communications, greater coordination amongst care providers, and increased responsiveness to patient needs,” said Nancy Payne, Space Coast Cancer Center executive director.
“This Pilot Program represents a transition to the OMH delivery system that will provide an even higher quality of care and ultimately provide much needed cancer care payment reform.”
The OMH model promotes standards and quality-centric processes that will promote a coordinated, efficient, patient-focused system for delivering quality care. These enhanced standards include objective, reportable continuously measured criteria that demonstrate improvement.
COA developed the OMH program to address the twin needs for quality care and payment reform to decrease the cost of cancer care for patients and the healthcare system.
Dr. Daniel P. McKellar
“The OMH model provides enhanced patient communications, greater coordination amongst care providers, and increased responsiveness to patient needs,” said Daniel P. McKellar, MD, FACS, CoC chair, and executive committee chair.
“The five summary categories of care – patient engagement, expanded access, evidence-based medicine, comprehensive team-based care, and quality improvement are the basis for practice accreditation. These ten practices are the first practices making the transition to the OMH model which will provide an even higher quality of care with measureable and reportable improvement.”
Providing cancer care to Brevard County, Florida since 1983, Space Coast Cancer Center is one of the premier Hematology/Oncology practices in Florida, consisting of the Titusville Cancer Center, Merritt Island Cancer Center and Viera Cancer Center in Melbourne.
Dr. Richard Levine
“Our physicians see patients in each office location and also have privileges at Parrish Medical Center in Titusville, Wuesthoff Medical Center in Rockledge, Cape Canaveral Hospital in Cocoa Beach and Viera Hospital, in Viera, Wuesthoff Medical Center in Melbourne and Holmes Regional Hospital in Melbourne,” said Space Coast Cancer Center Founder Dr. Richard Levine.
Space Coast Cancer Center is Florida’s first practice and only cancer enter in Brevard County to be recognized by the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI), a certification program of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
The QOPI Certification Program is an initiative to certify oncology practices that meet rigorous standards for the highest quality of cancer care.
About Community Oncology Alliance (COA) The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) is a non-profit organization dedicated solely to preserving and protecting access to community cancer care, where almost 70 percent of Americans with cancer are treated. COA has led community cancer clinics in navigating an increasingly challenging environment to provide efficiencies, patient advocacy, and proactive solutions to Congress and policy makers. COA members have testified before both chambers of Congress, authored cancer care demonstration projects, and been instrumental in the passage of oral cancer drug parity legislation, among many other initiatives.
About Oncology Medical Home (OMH) COA is leading a multi-stakeholder group that is developing and implementing an Oncology Medical Home cancer care model and is advancing payment reform for cancer care. The OMH emphasizes measuring, benchmarking, and rewarding positive quality, value and outcomes in cancer care. A 10 practice OMH pilot program launched in January 2015 and represents community oncology’s dedication to pro-active payment reform.
About the Commission on Cancer (CoC) The Commission on Cancer (CoC), a Quality Program of the American College of Surgeons is a consortium of professional organizations dedicated to improving survival and quality of life for cancer patients through standard-setting, prevention, research, education, and the monitoring of comprehensive quality care.
Established by the American College of Surgeons (ACoS) in 1922, the multidisciplinary CoC establishes standards to ensure quality, multidisciplinary, and comprehensive cancer care delivery in health care settings; conducts surveys in health care settings to assess compliance with those standards; collects standardized data from CoC-accredited health care settings to measure cancer care quality; uses data to monitor treatment patterns and outcomes and enhance cancer control and clinical surveillance activities; and develops effective educational interventions to improve cancer prevention, early detection, cancer care delivery, and outcomes in health care settings.
This accreditation program is the result of a collaborative effort with a steering committee of cancer care organizations, advocacy organizations, insurers, the Community Oncology Alliance (COA), and the Commission on Cancer (CoC).
