Tahoe Forest Cancer Center is the only triple accredited cancer center in the region.

Commission on Cancer (CoC):

The Commission on Cancer (CoC) is a consortium of professional organizations dedicated to improving survival and quality of life for patients with cancer by setting and raising standards. Accreditation promotes cancer prevention, research, education, and monitoring of comprehensive quality care.  The program annually meets 38 standards of care.

Commission on Cancer (CoC) accreditation provides real value to accredited programs. Programs can proudly demonstrate to their community—and to providers, payers, and the government—that they have invested in systems that help cancer patients receive high-quality, coordinated care. Cancer programs can show they have made the efforts necessary to provide supportive services and resources addressing the full continuum of care in their community.

CoC accreditation includes data reporting to and feedback from the CoC’s National Cancer Database (NCDB) to assess hospital performance using nationally recognized quality of cancer care measures. These data systems allow hospitals to compare their quality of care, identify variations, and implement improvements to demonstrate the high quality of care they provide and their commitment to continuous quality improvement. CoC accreditation also provides your cancer program with an infrastructure and data that inform care. It gives your team opportunities for leadership development, team building, and programmatic development.

Achieving accreditation by the CoC means your patients receive:

  • Comprehensive, patient-centered care through a multidisciplinary team-approach with validation through Cancer Committee
  • Access to information on clinical and new treatment options
  • Ongoing monitoring of care and lifelong patient follow-up
  • Psychosocial support and survivorship care
  • Continuous quality improvements in care

American Society Clinical Oncology (ASCO)/Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI):

Adapted from the 2016 ASCO/Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) Chemotherapy Administration Safety Standards, QOPI Certification Program Standards intend to reduce the risk of errors when providing chemotherapy to patients with cancer. Standards serve as the framework for the program and a guide to the best practices in oncology care. Practices receive QOPI Certification based on their full compliance with all standards as assessed during an on-site survey of each practice. The Standards Manual outlines the processes and documentation required to meet all standards.  Standards are organized around these five concepts:

  • Creating a Safe Environment – Staff and General Program Management
  • Treatment Planning, Patient Consent and Education
  • Ordering, Preparing, Dispensing and Administering Chemotherapy
  • Monitoring After Chemotherapy is Given, Including Adherence, Toxicity and Complications

American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO)/Accredited Program for Excellence (Apex):

APEx offers a radiopharmaceutical designation to help recognize your practice for staying at the cutting edge of radiation oncology while maintaining alignment with national standards.  ASTRO accomplishes a key strategic goal of driving high quality by leading initiatives that enhance quality and safety, and developing resources that ultimately improve patient outcomes and the lives of people with cancer.  APEx and its Standards were designed using the consensus report Safety is No Accident: A Framework for Quality Radiation Oncology Care. The 14 APEx Standards are organized around these five concepts:

  • The “Process of Care” in radiation oncology refers to a conceptual framework for delivering appropriate, high-quality and safe radiation therapy treatment. Use of ionizing radiation in medical treatment requires direct or personal physician management as the radiation oncology team leader, with input from other essential coworkers. These Standards derive from the model Process of Care flow diagram in the consensus report Safety is No Accident: A Framework for Quality Radiation Oncology Care.
  • The radiation oncology team works to provide every patient undergoing radiation treatment the appropriate level of medical, emotional and psychological care before, during and after treatment through a collaborative multidisciplinary approach. The primary radiation oncology team consists of, but is not limited to, radiation oncologists, medical physicists, medical dosimetrists, oncology nurses and radiation therapists.
  • Safety – the radiation oncology practice creates an interdisciplinary team-based culture that continuously reviews, monitors and adapts all aspects of safety.
  • Quality management – the radiation oncology practice has a quality management program that includes the facility, equipment, information management, treatment procedures and modalities, and peer review.
  • ASTRO’s patient-centered care standards aim to make care safer by promoting effective communication, coordination of care and engaging patients and families as partners in care. These priorities are reflected in the APEx Standards and evaluation criteria specific to the practice of radiation oncology.