The American College of Surgeons (ACS) Commission on Cancer (CoC) has awarded the Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) at Pennsylvania Hospital full reaccreditation for three years!
This distinction is awarded to exceptional institutions that deliver the highest standard of multidisciplinary, patient-centered cancer care, develop evidence-based quality and safety improvements, and offer resources across prevention, early detection, survivorship, and end-of-life care. The National Cancer Database — sponsored by the ACS and the American Cancer Society — estimates that 70 percent of cancer patients in the United States are diagnosed and/or treated at a CoC-accredited facility, which make up only about 25 percent of hospitals nationwide.
The ACC also continues to be recognized as a Level 1 participant in the Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative. Created by The John A. Hartford Foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, the framework is built on the “4Ms”: What Matters (priorities of older adults), Mentation (managing delirium, dementia, and depression), Mobility (keeping older adults moving safely), and Medication (ensuring medications don’t interfere with the other Ms).
In order to support the complex needs of older patients, the ACC team has been steadily and successfully implementing new best practices aligned with the 4Ms at every stage of care and during every patient interaction. Given the challenges posed by COVID-19, these interactions may also touch on timely topics like mitigating the impact of isolation or accessing technology for social and telehealth purposes.