Charleston, SC - Trident Medical Cancer Center has been awarded a three-year term of accreditation in radiation oncology as the result of a recent review by the American College of Radiology (ACR). 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 ACR after a peer-review evaluation by board-certified radiation oncologists and medical physicists who are experts in the field. Radiation oncology (radiation therapy) is the careful use of high-energy radiation to treat cancer or to relieve a cancer patient's pain.
"The physicians and clinicians associated with the Trident Cancer Center are very proud to have earned the ACR reaccreditation," said Margaret Mac Dowell, MD, radiation oncologist. "We were also the first radiation oncology center in the Lowcountry to be accredited, which shows we are maintaining the commitment we made to our patients when we began and that is to provide high quality, safe, and appropriate radiation care to Lowcountry cancer patients." The clinical teams at Trident Cancer Center treat a variety of cancers including colorectal, breast, and prostate cancer.
The ACR is the nation's oldest and most widely accepted radiation oncology accrediting body, with more than 650 accredited sites, and 29 years of accreditation experience. 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.
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 health care services.
Are You Concerned About Too Much Radiation?
The American College of Radiation's (ACR) Gold Seal means that the facility and its personnel have gone through a comprehensive review to earn accreditation status by the ACR. Among patients and physicians, ACR accreditation is recognized as the gold standard in medical imaging.
Safe and Appropriate Imaging
Before an imaging procedure patients are encouraged to ask their physician the following questions:
- Why is the exam needed?
- How will having the exam improve care?
- Are there alternatives that do not use radiation and deliver similar results?
- Is the facility ACR accredited?
- Are pediatric exams delivering "kid-sized" radiation doses?
