BRYAN, TX — Last month, the American College of Surgeons National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC) reaccredited the St. Joseph Health Cancer Center breast program for the third time.
St. Joseph says this recognizes the program for maintaining levels of excellence in the delivery of comprehensive, patient-centered, multidisciplinary care resulting in high-quality care for patients with breast disease.
To achieve voluntary NAPBC accreditation, St. Joseph Health Cancer Center demonstrated compliance with the NAPBC standards that look at leadership, clinical services, research, community outreach, professional education, and quality improvement.
"Patients receiving care at a NAPBC-accredited center have access to information on clinical trials and new treatments, genetic counseling, and patient centered services including psycho-social support, and a survivorship care plan that documents the care each patient receives and seeks to improve cancer survivor’s quality of life," St. Joseph said in a statement.
St. Joseph Health said the accreditation sets them apart from other cancer centers because it evaluates their adherence to evidence-based standards and other hallmarks of quality programs, such as ensuring that newly diagnosed patients receive full navigation services and that each discipline on the center’s medical team touches every individual case.
“This accreditation showcases our commitment to ensuring our patients have access to all the resources they need in order to promote the best possible outcomes and that they feel comfortable and confident with their treatment choices along their journey,” said Misti Chapman, Director of the Cancer Center at St. Joseph Health.
Additionally, this accreditation certifies that each person on the Cancer Center team is knowledgeable about breast cancer, follow evidence-based guidelines, have systems in place to monitor how well they adhere to them, and that they connect patients to genetic counselors to speak to them face-to-face about the meaning of their test results, if they meet the criteria for a hereditary screening.
St. Joseph Health is also proud to offer Breast Health Navigators to all newly-diagnosed patients.
"These navigators follow all newly-diagnosed patients through the process of receiving care through our program, educating them about their treatment options and financial considerations and guiding them through every step of the process, from their initial appointments through to follow-up care," St. Joseph said.
The Cancer Center also reviews each patient’s case with the multidisciplinary team to gather input from physicians and specialists from a variety of backgrounds and provide the most comprehensive care possible.
The team earned recognition for its over 12% clinical trials accrual rate, meaning that over 12% of their patients qualified for a credible trial and the center was able to place them into the trial.
This accrual exceeds the benchmark 2% rate and indicates that St. Joseph Health physicians and research teams are diligently screening patients for clinical trial eligibility.