Olympic Medical Cancer Center Earns ACR Certification
SEQUIM (March 6, 2013) – The American College of Radiology (ACR) awarded Olympic Medical Cancer Center with a three-year term of accreditation in radiation oncology.
The formal accreditation comes after a stringent technical and quality review of the cancer program, specifically radiation oncology. Radiation oncology (also known as radiation therapy) is the careful use of high-energy radiation to treat cancer. A radiation oncologist may use radiation to cure cancer or to relieve a cancer patient’s pain.
“The ACR accreditation is the best measuring stick to know that what we are doing at Olympic Medical Cancer Center is the very best work possible,” says Rena Zimmerman, MD, radiation oncologist. “This accreditation is a voluntary process, but we know there is a difference of thinking and believing we provide the best cancer care possible, and actually having an independent review such as this that confirms what we knew. This is the most stringent review on the market and through this we demonstrated that we are one of the best.”
The application process for the ACR accreditation is extensive. “Between our physician leadership, dosimetrists, physicists, radiation therapists and information technology there is a huge amount of work that goes into earning this certification,” says Michael Shevach, MD, medical director of radiation oncology at Olympic Medical Cancer Center. “Our staff’s dedication to patient safety and providing quality care is outstanding.”
The ACR is the nation’s oldest and most widely accepted radiation oncology accrediting body, with nearly 500 accredited sites, and 25 years of accreditation experience. The ACR seal of accreditation represents the highest level of quality and patient safety. It is awarded only to facilities meeting specific practice guidelines and technical standards developed by ACR after a peer-review evaluation by board-certified radiation oncologists and medical physicists who are experts in the field. Patient care and treatment, patient safety, personnel qualifications, adequacy of facility equipment, quality control procedures, and quality assurance programs are assessed. The findings are reported to the ACR Committee on Radiation Oncology Accreditation, which subsequently provides the practice with a comprehensive report they can use for continuous practice improvement.
Olympic Medical Cancer Center is also accredited by The Joint Commission, The Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons and the Department of Health.
About Olympic Medical Cancer Center
Olympic Medical Cancer Center provides the latest cancer technologies and treatments to the North Olympic Peninsula community. Olympic Medical offers the Varian TrueBeam™, the most advanced linear accelerator available today. The Cancer Center offers a multi-disciplinary team and provides comprehensive cancer care services, including state-of-the-art radiation oncology therapies, medical oncology therapies with access to current clinical trials, nutrition, onsite physical therapy and a patient navigator program all under one roof. In addition to the quality services offered locally, Olympic Medical’s affiliation with the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) capitalizes on the resources of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, UW Medicine and Seattle Children’s. Through this partnership to the SCCA, patients have access to clinical trials, offering patients access to the latest drug, immunologic and molecularly targeted cancer therapies before they are widely available. For more information about Olympic Medical Cancer Center services, please visit www.OMCforHope.com or call the Cancer Center at (360) 683-9895.
About the ACR
The ACR is a national professional organization serving more than 36,000 diagnostic / interventional radiologists, radiation oncologists, nuclear medicine physicians and medical physicists with programs focusing on the practice of medical imaging and radiation oncology and the delivery of comprehensive health care services.
About Olympic Medical Center
Olympic Medical Center (Clallam County Public Hospital District No. 2) is a comprehensive, award-winning health care provider for more than 70,000 residents of Clallam County. It has served the community since its establishment on Nov. 1, 1951, and is governed by a seven-member, publicly elected board. Olympic Medical is a sole community hospital and rural referral center, and a charter member of both the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (2003) and the Swedish Health Network (2011). Olympic Medical provides inpatient services at its 80-bed acute-care facility in Port Angeles, including a level-three trauma designated emergency department, surgical services, and labor and delivery. OMC’s outpatient services include cardiac, imaging, physical therapy and rehabilitation, laboratory, sleep medicine, surgical services, home health, physician clinics and comprehensive regional cancer care at locations in Port Angeles and Sequim.
|
