Vulnerable patients facing social, environmental, and economic disadvantages often experience worse cancer outcomes than other groups. Some of these disparities may be reduced by increasing access to hospitals accredited by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Commission on Cancer (CoC), according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons (JACS) . The study found that highly vulnerable patients treated at CoC-accredited hospitals, as measured by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), were more likely to receive care that adhered to national treatment guidelines and were 9% less likely to die than patients treated at non-CoC-accredited hospitals during the study period.
These results may be due to CoC-accreditation requirements for treatment guideline adherence, community engagement , and addressing barriers to care, the study authors said. "All ACS Quality programs are rooted in evidence-based standards of care. These study findings validate that adhering to national guidelines, such as those of the Commission on Cancer, make an important difference in the care and outcomes of our patients," said Clifford Y.
Ko, MD, MS, MSHS, FACS, a study co-author and Director of the ACS Division of Research and Optimal Patient Care. Key study findings: This retrospective observational study identified 124,950 patients with stage I-III colon cancer (102,399 patients) or stage II-III rectal cancer (22,551 patient.