Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano Receives National Achievement Award from Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons

PLANO, Texas, March 30, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Commission on Cancer (CoC) of the American College of Surgeons has granted its Outstanding Achievement Award to Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano as a result of surveys performed during 2010. Baylor Plano is one of a select group of 90 currently accredited and newly accredited cancer programs across the United States and one of two programs in Texas to receive this recognition. This number represents approximately 17 percent of programs surveyed during this period.

"As a member of the Baylor Plano medical staff it is an honor that our commitment to provide quality cancer care to our patients has been recognized by the Commission on Cancer through this prestigious award," Lynn Canavan, M.D., breast surgeon and medical director of breast surgery at Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano.

Established in 2004, the CoC Outstanding Achievement Award (OAA) is designed to recognize cancer programs that strive for excellence in providing quality care to cancer patients. The award is granted to facilities that demonstrate a Commendation level of compliance with seven standards that represent six areas of cancer program activity: cancer committee leadership, cancer data management, clinical management, research, community outreach, and quality improvement.

The level of compliance with the seven standards is determined during an on-site evaluation by a physician surveyor. In addition, facilities must receive a compliance rating for the remaining 29 cancer program standards. Only ninety programs across the nation, including Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano, received the OAA as a result of surveys performed in 2010. A majority of recipients are community-based facilities; however, teaching hospitals, NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, Pediatric, and Network Cancer Programs also received the award.

The Commission on Cancer (CoC) of the American College of Surgeons (ACoS) has granted Three-Year Accreditation with Commendation to the cancer program at Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano. Accredited cancer programs are also assigned an Accreditation Category that describes the services available at the facility. Baylor Plano is the only hospital in Collin County to be designated a Community Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Program. This level of accreditation means that a facility treats 650 or more cancer patients each year and provides a wide range of diagnostic and treatment services available on site.

Established in 1922 by the American College of Surgeons, the Commission on Cancer 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. Its membership includes Fellows of the American College of Surgeons and representatives of 47 national organizations that reflect the full spectrum of cancer care.

The CoC's core functions include setting standards for quality, multidisciplinary cancer patient care; surveying facilities to evaluate compliance with the 36 CoC standards; collecting standardized, high-quality data from accredited facilities; and using the data to develop effective educational interventions to improve cancer care outcomes at the national, state, and local levels. There are currently more than 1,500 CoC-accredited cancer programs representing 25 percent of all hospitals in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. These CoC-accredited facilities diagnose and/or treat 71 percent of all newly diagnosed cancer patients each year. Receiving care at a CoC-accredited cancer program ensures that a patient will have access to the full quality spectrum of comprehensive cancer care close to home.

In addition, cancer patients' data are reported by each CoC-accredited cancer program to the CoC's National Cancer Data Base (NCDB), a joint program with the American Cancer Society (ACS). These data account for approximately two-thirds of all newly diagnosed cancer cases in the U.S. each year, and are used regularly to monitor the quality of patient care delivered in CoC-accredited cancer programs and to improve cancer care outcomes at both the national and local level.

Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano has also been granted a three-year/Full accreditation designation by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), a program administered by the American College of Surgeons. Baylor Plano, which includes Baylor Diagnostic Imaging Center at Craig Ranch, an outpatient department of Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano, is the only hospital in Collin County and one of six in Texas accredited by the NAPBC. Accreditation by the NAPBC is only given to those centers that have voluntarily committed to provide the highest level of quality breast care and that undergo a rigorous evaluation process and review of their performance. During the survey process, the center must demonstrate compliance with standards established by the NAPBC for treating women who are diagnosed with the full spectrum of breast disease. The standards include proficiency in the areas of: center leadership, clinical management, research, community outreach, professional education, and quality improvement. A breast center that achieves NAPBC accreditation has demonstrated a firm commitment to offer its patients every significant advantage in their battle against breast disease.

Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano is a 112-bed acute care hospital committed to serving North Texas residents with personalized care and advanced technology on a beautiful campus with hotel-like amenities and all private rooms. Services at the not-for-profit, fully-accredited facility include treatment for advanced spine deformities at the Baylor Scoliosis Center, neurosciences, orthopedics, medical and radiation oncology, surgical weight loss, women's services, gynecology, urology, gastroenterology, pulmonary medicine, sleep disorders, pain management, diabetes management and more. Patients have access to digital imaging onsite at Baylor Plano and at the Baylor Diagnostic Imaging Center at Craig Ranch, an outpatient department of Baylor Plano. The hospital is the first in North Dallas and Collin County to offer minimally invasive robotic surgery for procedures through the FDA-approved da Vinci® S Surgical System. Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano ranks six on U.S. News & World Report's first-ever Best Hospitals metro area ranking for the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Baylor Plano is also a 2010 recipient of the Texas Award for Performance Excellence and houses an Accredited Community Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Program by the American College of Surgeons Commissions on Cancer. Baylor Plano is the only hospital in Collin County and one of six in Texas to be accredited by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers. Jerri Garison is president of Baylor Plano. For more information, or a physician referral, call toll free 1-800-4-BAYLOR or log onto www.BaylorHealth.com/Plano.

About Baylor Health Care System

Baylor Health Care System is a not-for-profit, faith-based supporting organization providing services to a network of acute care hospitals and related health care entities that provide patient care, medical education, research and community service. Baylor recorded more than 2.6 million patient encounters, $3.8 billion in total operating revenue, $4.4 billion in total assets and $513.5 million in community benefit in fiscal year 2010. Baylor's network of more than 260 access points includes 26 owned/operated/ ventured/affiliated hospitals, 23 joint ventured ambulatory surgical centers, 50 satellite outpatient locations, four senior centers and 156 HealthTexas Provider Network physician clinics.

Physicians are members of the medical staff at one of Baylor Health Care System's subsidiary, community or affiliated medical centers and are neither employees nor agents of those medical centers, Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano or Baylor Health Care System.

SOURCE Baylor Health Care System