Accreditation, Quality and Reporting

Accreditation

Only one in four hospitals that treat cancer patients receives accreditation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, and St. Charles is one of them.

This designation recognizes the quality of care at a facility and offers a commitment that every patient will have access to all of the various medical specialists who are involved in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Quality

In 2004, before national standards were in place, we recognized that to assure the highest standard of care for our patients, we needed the cancer services community in Central Oregon to agree on treatment plans. It was then that the St. Charles Cancer Committee established our Quality Program using the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Guidelines as the foundation. The NCCN guidelines are treatment plans agreed upon by an alliance of 21 of the world's leading cancer center plans created by the leading experts in cancer research and treatment.

Since these guidelines were adopted, we've been monitoring our services, making improvements where needed, and continuing to strive for excellence. Our hard work is paying off. The National Quality Forum, a nonprofit organization created to develop a national strategy for healthcare quality measurement and reporting, set standards defining excellence in cancer treatment in four areas in April 2007. Quality reports for the St. Charles Cancer Care Program indicate we achieved near-perfect scores on all four measures.

For quality of care and patient satisfaction, our program far exceeds the national average.

St. Charles Cancer Care, as part of the Cascade Healthcare Community, has a "transparency commitment" to keep the public informed about what we do well and where we need to improve. View the Cancer Treatment Center ratings.

Reporting

To assist in state and national efforts in the fight against cancer, the Central Oregon Cancer Database at St. Charles collects information on all new diagnoses of cancer in Deschutes, Jefferson and Crook counties. The database collects specific information about a patient's diagnosis and treatment for use in research and education. Once a patient is added to the database, they are followed annually for life. All patient information is strictly confidential.

The Central Oregon Cancer Database is required by state law to submit data to the Oregon State Cancer Registry (OSCaR). St. Charles Medical Center submits data annually to the National Cancer Database (NCDB) as part of our accreditation as a Comprehensive Community Cancer Program. For more information, contact Shelley Lindsey, CTR, Cancer Database Coordinator, at (541) 706-7716.