The European accreditation of Istituto Tumori Giovanni Paolo II of Bari.

The National Cancer Institute of Bari (Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, IRCCS) has been involved since the conception of the project of the Italian Ministry for Health aimed to validate the applicability of the Organisation of European Cancer Institutes (OECI) accreditation and designation (A&D) model to the Network of Italian Cancer Centers, IRCCS, of Alleanza Contro il Cancro. The self-assessment phase of the Institute started in September 2013 and ended in June 2014. All documents and tools were transferred to the OECI A&D Board in June 2014 and a 2-day peer review visit was conducted in October 2014 by an international qualified audit team. The Institute received its final designation and certification in June 2015. The OECI A&D Board, in its final report, came to the conclusion that Istituto Tumori "Giovanni Paolo II" of Bari has a strong research component with some essential elements of comprehensive cancer care still under development; the lack of a system for using outcome data for the strategic management approach to decision-making and missing a regular internal audit system eventually helping further quality improvement were reported as examples of areas with opportunities for improvement. The OECI A&D process represented a great opportunity for the cancer center to benchmark the quality of its performance according to standard parameters in comparison with other international centers and to further develop a participatory group identity. The common goal of accreditation was real and participatory with long-lasting positive effects. We agree with the OECI comments about the next areas of work in which the Institute could produce future further efforts: the use of its powerful IT system as a means for outcome analysis and empowerment projects for its cancer patients.

Accreditation for excellence of cancer research institutes: recommendations from the Italian Network of Comprehensive Cancer Centers.

A panel of experts from Italian Comprehensive Cancer Centers defines the recommendations for external quality control programs aimed to accreditation to excellence of these institutes. After definition of the process as a systematic, periodic evaluation performed by an external agency to verify whether a health organization possesses certain prerequisites regarding structural, organizational and operational conditions that are thought to affect health care quality, the panel reviews models internationally available and makes final recommendations on aspects considered of main interest. This position paper has been produced within a special project of the Ministry of Health of the Italian Government aimed to accredit, according to OECI model, 11 Italian cancer centers in the period 2012-2014. The Project represents the effort undertaken by this network of Comprehensive Cancer Centers to find a common denominator for the experience of all Institutes in external quality control programs. Fourteen shared "statements" are put forth, designed to offer some indications on the main aspects of this subject, based on literature evidence or expert opinions. They deal with the need for "accountability" and involvement of the entire organization, the effectiveness of self-evaluation, the temporal continuity and the educational value of the experience, the use of indicators and measurement tools, additionally for intra- and inter-organization comparison, the system of evaluation models used, the provision for specific requisites for oncology, and the opportunity for mutual exchange of evaluation experiences.