SBUMC Radiation Oncology Earns Three-Year Accreditation From American College Of Radiology
Accreditation Awarded to Facilities Meeting Specific Practice Guidelines, Technical Standards – See more at: http://crc.informatics.stonybrook.edu/newsroom/radonc#sthash.qkMsjIc3.dpuf
STONY BROOK, N.Y., June 9, 2011 – The Department of Radiation Oncology at Stony Brook University Medical Center 
received a three-year accreditation from the American College of Radiology (ACR) and the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) upon applying for ACR-ASTRO accreditation for the first time. A national distinction, the ACR-ASTRO seal of accreditation represents the highest level of quality and patient safety. The accreditation lasts through March 2014.
Stony Brook’s Radiation Oncology team compiled its practice guidelines, technical data, and quality assessment as part of the ACR-ASTRO application submission. Through a team of board-certified radiation oncologists and medical physicists, ACR-ASTRO reviewed the Department of Radiation Oncology’s personnel qualifications, adequacy of facility equipment, and quality control procedures. Part of the review included a site visit.
After the site visit, the review team concluded the Stony Brook Department met all practice guidelines and technical standards developed by the ACR and ASTRO. The ACR-ASTRO Committee on Radiation Oncology approved the accreditation. All approved programs receive a comprehensive report to be used for continuous practice improvement.
“Receiving ACR-ASTRO accreditation mirrors our commitment to providing the highest quality of practice standards, as well as technical capacity in the delivery of care to our patients,” says Allen G. Meek, M.D., Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology. “Earning the ACR-ASTRO seal is the result of the hard work and dedication of our entire faculty and staff.”
Within the past year, the Department has further enhanced its radiation therapy options for patients by installing RapidArc™ radiotherapy technology, a breakthrough external beam radiotherapy technology that is fast, precise, and has optimal dose delivery to targeted tumors while limiting damage to surrounding normal tissue. Additionally, the Department has upgraded its information systems, which has streamlined patient scheduling and processing, and became one of 43 programs nationally approved by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Education to train medical physicists.
Other types of special therapies offered through the Department include image guided radiothereapy, conventional and hypofractionated stereotactic body radiotherapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, respiratory guided radiotherapy, and pediatric radiotherapy. In addition, the Department offers conventional external beam therapy, three dimensional conformal radiotherapy, intensity modulated radiotherapy, prone breast radiotherapy, conventional and high dose rate brachytherapy, infusional brachytherapy, and high dose radioiodine therapy.
The 34,000-member ACR includes radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists, interventional radiologists and nuclear medicine physicians. The mission of the ACR is to maximize the value of radiology, radiation oncology, interventional radiology, nuclear medicine and medical physics by advancing the science of radiology, improving quality of care, and conducting research for the future of radiology.
With 10,000 members, ASTRO is the largest radiation oncology organization of its kind. Members include radiation oncologists, radiation oncology nurses, medical physicists, radiation therapists, dosimetrists, and biologists.
About the Department of Radiation Oncology at Stony Brook University Medical Center
The Department of Radiation Oncology treats approximately 70 patients per day. The missions of the Department are to use state-of-the-art methods to treat patients in a respectful, compassionate and effective manner, develop innovative approaches to treatment, and serve as a regional resource for education about radiation oncology and the diseases it treats.
