The Radiation Oncology teams at Intermountain Medical Center, LDS Hospital, and Riverton Hospital recently earned accreditation from the Accreditation Program for Excellence (APEx) administered by the American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). They’re the first three hospitals in Utah to earn the accreditation. Several more Intermountain hospitals are going through the year-long survey prep process now. The accreditation shows the hospitals meet high standards in safety, quality, and patient-centered care.
Kristin Smith, Radiation Oncology manager at IMED, says a dedicated team lead by physicist John Gordon and including herself, Vilija Avizonis, MD, George Cannon, MD, Chris Jenkins, Afsonai Godfrey, Katie Nielsen, and Brian Price met several times a month for the past year to prepare documentation, review policy and procedures, and to review quality, safety, and patient experience data.
“We were excited to welcome the survey team, had a great group of caregivers who shared many of the best practices we have in place, and learned some ways we can improve,” Kristin says. “We’re thrilled for this exciting outcome and result of our efforts.”
She says the team has already benefitted from the survey process in several ways, including evaluating peer reviews, improving safety, refining time out and QA processes, and improving documentation.
“The APEx survey was quite comprehensive and rigorous in its evaluation of the specifics of our radiation oncology program,” Kristin says. “We appreciated the opportunity to look at our processes and determine ways we could improve patient safety and experience.”
Kristin says Craig Nielsen, Cameron Gabriel, and Emily Blamire deserve special thanks for the support they provided throughout our accreditation process.