Adherence to the NCCN® Guidelines an indicator of improved quality of cancer care at The William Beaumont Hospital - Action News 5 - Memphis, Tennessee

This article was originally distributed via PRWeb. PRWeb, WorldNow and this Site make no warranties or representations in connection therewith.

SOURCE: OncCharts

OncCharts.com hails William Beaumont Hospital's Multidisciplinary Prostate Cancer Program concerning the quality of patient care

Greensboro, Georgia (PRWEB) November 14, 2012

A recent program conducted at the William Beaumont Hospital in Troy, Michigan demonstrated that medical institutions, which offer patients a multidisciplinary center (“MDC”) as well as adhere to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network ® (“NCCN®”) Guidelines for cancer management, could set the standard for a higher quality of cancer care in the United States. A MDC allows patients to see a variety of multi-specialization doctors under one roof.

During March 2010, researchers created a genitourinary (“GU”) MDC to provide patients with comprehensive evaluations and a wide array of treatment options in one visit. A number of medical professionals including urologists, radiation oncologists, and other staff participated in the program.

According to the program’s results, 182 patients had evaluations in the first year. The program reported differences in treatments patients elected to receive in contrast to previous years when there was no MDC. Additionally, there was an increase in adherence to the NCCN guidelines for prostate cancer patients as well.

The program results concluded that the GU MDC improved the overall quality of care for cancer patients in two important respects. First, there were improved rates of adherence to the NCCN guidelines. Second, patients had more treatment options.

“This recent experience of William Beaumont Hospital further supports the importance of the NCCN guidelines as setting the standard of quality cancer care in the United States. It is imperative that patients understand and track their cancer care with these guidelines, so that they understand the assortment of appropriate treatment options available to them without bias and can track their treatment course as it happens,” stated radiation oncologist and founder of OncCharts.com, Dr. Charles Matthews. “I am also pleased to announce that we at OncCharts.com have heard requests and understood the importance of making this cancer tool accessible to all people, and therefore, have agreed to provide a free lifetime subscription for our next 100 patient users. It is our pleasure to be of service to those who suffer from cancer, as well as their family, and friends.”

OncCharts.com is the only online platform that allows cancer patients, and their oncologists to follow their treatment course alongside the NCCN® guidelines for patients as it happens. The tool also allows patients to keep their friends and family abreast of their progress automatically.

About OncCharts

Created by oncologists, OncCharts.com is a simple online tool that protects patients by enabling them to follow their cancer care as it happens with the NCCN guidelines for patients. OncCharts services prostate, lung, breast, and colon cancer patients. OncCharts has been profiled in the Black Health magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, Yahoo News, among other media outlets. The service can be sent as a gift to loved ones with cancer, which can be found here. For more information or view the video on how the OncCharts.com platform works, please visit OncCharts.com. Visit Onccharts.com on Facebook or join the conversation on Twitter.

Reference:
HPB (Oxford). 2012. 2, February. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22307214

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prwebonccharts-hails-beaumont/prostate-cancer/prweb10127941.htm