Markey earns accreditation from the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 19, 2022) — The University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center has earned a three-year accreditation from the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer (NAPRC). UK Markey Cancer Center is one of around 60 centers in the nation and the first in Kentucky to hold this designation.

To achieve the accreditation, a quality assurance program established by the American College of Surgeons, Markey Cancer Center was able to demonstrate compliance with standards addressing program management, clinical services and quality improvement for patients, as well as create a multidisciplinary rectal cancer team including clinical representatives from surgery, pathology, radiology, radiation oncology, and medical oncology.

“We are proud to be among the leaders in the field of rectal cancer who have earned the rigorous NAPRC accreditation,” said Sandra Beck, M.D., surgeon and section head of Markey Colorectal Surgery. “The accreditation is a testament to Markey Cancer Center’s commitment to multidisciplinary rectal cancer care and the hard work our team has done to ensure we are providing the best patient care.”

Additionally, Markey met accreditation standards addressing clinical services 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.

Markey surgeon Jon Hourigan, M.D., led the colorectal surgery team through the accreditation program, a process that takes several years.   

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. 

Accreditation by the NAPRC is granted only to those programs that are committed to providing the best possible care to patients with rectal cancer. NAPRC accredited programs follow a model for organizing and managing a rectal center to ensure multidisciplinary, integrated, comprehensive rectal cancer services.

Markey's gastrointestinal cancer team offers state-of-the-art cancer screening and diagnoses as well as the latest advances in surgical, radiation and chemotherapeutic interventions for patients with cancers of the colon and rectum. Learn more at https://ukhealthcare.uky.edu/markey-cancer-center/cancer-types/gastrointestinal-cancer

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About the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer
The NAPRC was developed through a collaboration between the Commission on Cancer (CoC), a quality program of the American College of Surgeons, and the Optimizing the Surgical Treatment of Rectal Cancer (OSTRiCh) Consortium, as well as the American College of Radiology (ACR), the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS), and the College of American Pathologists (CAP). The NAPRC is based on successful international models that emphasize program structure, patient care processes, performance improvement, and performance measures. Its goal is to ensure that rectal cancer patients receive appropriate care using a multidisciplinary approach. For more information visit https://www.facs.org/naprc.

About the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer
Established in 1922 by the ACS, the CoC is a consortium of professional organizations dedicated to improving patient outcomes and quality of life for cancer patients through standard-setting, prevention, research, education, and the monitoring of comprehensive quality care. For more information on the CoC, visit: https://www.facs.org/quality-programs/cancer/coc.