PHILADELPHIA (June 18, 2021)—Fox Chase Cancer Center’s main, Buckingham, and East Norriton campuses have been awarded a three-year term of reaccreditation in radiation oncology as the result of a recent review by the American College of Radiology (ACR).
“The ACR accreditation process is an important national indicator of quality treatment in a radiation oncology department. This is something we take very seriously here at Fox Chase and are very proud of what we do for our patients,” said Eric M. Horwitz, MD, FABS, FASTRO, chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Fox Chase.
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 treat cancer or to relieve a cancer patient’s pain.
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 healthcare services.
“The accreditation process involved a two-day site visit process that was performed by two ACR surveyors, a radiation oncologist and a medical physicist. These two surveyors reviewed numerous patient treatment cases from our main center, as well as our two satellite facilities, Buckingham and East Norriton,” said Penny R. Anderson, MD, professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology and chief of the Division of Breast and Gynecologic Radiation Oncology at Fox Chase.
“They reviewed the quality and safety of our radiation treatments by analyzing and reviewing our clinical treatment information and our physics treatment information in order to evaluate and determine if we are delivering the highest quality of patient care and patient safety to our radiation oncology patients,” she said.
The ACR is the nation’s oldest and most widely accepted radiation oncology accrediting body, with over 700 accredited sites and 30 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 the 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.
“This ACR reaccreditation confirms once again that we continue to deliver high quality radiation treatments for our patients. I want to acknowledge and thank Dr. Penny Anderson and our whole team for the work they did and continue to do to maintain the high standards of care reflected in this accreditation,” said Horwitz.
“Since 2009, our department has been accredited by the ACR, and it is a testament to everyone from the radiation therapists, nurses, dosimetrists, physicists, and physicians that this continues to be the case.”