American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer  (ACOS-CoC) Liaison Report - February 2006

• There have been some major revisions to the 2004 standards pertinent to VA facilities and NCI Designated centers that are now available.  The CoC is holding consecutive one-day Survey Savvy workshops to introduce and provide education on the revised standards to personnel from NCI and VA locations.  For links to detailed information about the workshop content, location, and agenda, as well as a registration form, go to http://www.facs.org/cancer/cannews.html.
   

• For cancer registrars that will be attending the 2006 National Cancer Registrars Association Annual Conference, in Alexandria, VA, the Commission on Cancer, per request from attendants at the 2005 conference, will be hosting a two-hour forum focused on new initiatives the CoC has under way.  The forum will also provide a venue to address issues and concerns.  For more information, contact Connie Bura at cbura@facs.org.
   

• "The Commission on Cancer 2006 and Beyond:  Measuring the Quality of Your Cancer Care," is a two-day conference featuring a variety of topics offering insight into effectively using the National Cancer Data Base for data-driven quality initiative; clinical trial participation and the delivery of quality care; and methods for making a cancer program more effective.  This program is targeted for all cancer program team members, health care executives and administrators, quality managers, and payers.  For further information on this program, go to http://www.facs.org/cancer/index.html.