Sentara Martha Jefferson Earns National Accreditation for Rectal Cancer Treatment

Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital has earned a three-year accreditation from the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer (NAPRC), a quality program of the American College of Surgeons.

To achieve voluntary NAPRC accreditation, a rectal center must demonstrate compliance with the NAPRC standards addressing program management, clinical services, and quality improvement for patients. Centers are required to establish a multidisciplinary rectal cancer team that includes clinical representatives from surgery, pathology, radiology, radiation oncology, and medical oncology.

Additionally, the program met standards addressing the clinical services that the rectal cancer program provides, including Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA testing), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), and Computerized Tomography (CT) imaging for cancer staging, which allows patients to start treatment within a defined timeframe. Rectal cancer programs accredited by the NAPRC undergo a site visit every three years and are also accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer.

"We are proud to be among the leaders in the field of rectal cancer who have earned the rigorous NAPRC accreditation," said Zachary Gregg, M.D., who led the team through the accreditation requirements, a process that takes several years. "This accreditation helps to showcase that our team has the necessary tools to get our patients through a difficult disease process."

Accreditation by the NAPRC is granted only to those programs committed to providing the best possible care to patients with rectal cancer. The NAPRC provides the structure and resources to develop and operate a high-quality rectal center, and accredited programs follow a model for organizing and managing a rectal center to ensure multidisciplinary, integrated, comprehensive rectal cancer services.

"This accreditation is a testament to our commitment to multidisciplinary rectal cancer care and our team's dedication to ensuring we provide the best patient care for our community," says Laura Kavanagh, Regional Director for Oncology for Sentara Healthcare. "Accreditations such as NAPRC help patients gain an extra level of comfort from knowing they're being treated by an accredited site of excellence for rectal cancer."