Fox Chase Cancer Center, one of the nation's leading cancer research and treatment institutions, today announced the posting of clinical outcomes data to its website as a tool to assist newly-diagnosed patients in deciding where to seek cancer care. This initiative follows on a survey Fox Chase commissioned in the fall of 2010, in which non-diagnosed adults ranked success rates as the factor that would be the most important in choosing a hospital if they were told that they or a family member required cancer treatment.
"We are committed to helping the public become more informed when making decisions about their health care," said Michael V. Seiden, M.D., Ph.D., president and CEO of Fox Chase Cancer Center. "While individual outcomes cannot be predicted, we hope this data will enable patients to make choices that are right for them, ensuring that they receive the best care possible."
While the movement toward greater medical transparency and patient empowerment grows nationally, only a handful of cancer institutions currently publish outcomes data, as measured by survival rates. The figures Fox Chase has released describe five-year survival rates for patients diagnosed at the different stages of breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers, the most common cancers in the United States. These numbers are charted on Fox Chase's website in comparison to patient survival data from both small and large community hospitals across the country, using statistics from the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB), maintained by the American College of Surgeons.
"In these charts, people will see that patients receiving care at Fox Chase Cancer Center have superior outcomes compared to individuals treated for the major cancers in community hospitals," Seiden said. "We have always believed that our singular focus on understanding, preventing, and treating cancer leads to a higher overall standard of care, and the figures, on the whole, bear that out."
One of the main reasons for the distinction, Seiden says, lies in Fox Chase's patient volume and its exclusive focus on cancer. Fox Chase, one of only a few dozen National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the country, treats more than 32,000 oncology patients a year, including 7,600 new patients, and has active research and clinical trials programs that benefit patients from across the region. Through its Partners program with community-based hospitals in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Fox Chase promotes the timely translation of research findings to ensure patients have access to the latest advances in cancer care and treatment.
"We know that our patients aren't just numbers, and we show it in the personal care that our oncologists and nursing staff deliver every day," said Dr. Seiden. "But we believe that where patients first seek care can greatly influence their outcomes, and you can see some of those differences when comparing the outcomes of an institution such as Fox Chase, which has a sole focus on cancer care, informed by in-house research and clinical experience."
The Fox Chase commissioned survey from the fall of 2010, which included 406 non-diagnosed adults, was conducted by Kesselman Research and Strategic Planning. The survey found that the most important factors when choosing a hospital for cancer care included high success rates, availability of the latest advances in cancer treatment, ability to handle the most complex cases, and individualized tailored targeted treatments.
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