In recent years, health care has focused on key metrics as measures of quality. Payors increasingly require facilities and providers to attain accreditation through meeting accepted standards. Much like the relationship between volume and outcomes, studies have demonstrated a link between accreditation and improved outcomes for the trauma and bariatric programs at the American College of Surgeons (ACS).
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2 However, no previous study has comprehensively examined the relationship between breast center accreditation and performance on breast quality measures. In two international studies, breast cancer survival improved after the implementation of a multidisciplinary care program in Scotland, and in response to compliance with defined quality indicators in Taiwan.
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4 In 2008, the ACS launched the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC) as a quality improvement program for breast centers. The majority of NAPBC centers also have Commission on Cancer (CoC) accreditation, which means most NAPBC centers contribute data to the National Cancer Database (NCDB). We utilized this unique opportunity to compare performance on the six breast quality measures between CoC centers with and without NAPBC accreditation. …
