Porter Regional Hospital Named Screening Center of Excellence by Lung Cancer Alliance

Khabbaz headshotPorter Regional Hospital has been named a Screening Center for Excellence by the Lung Cancer Alliance for its commitment to improving lung cancer detection and care in Northwest Indiana.

Porter Regional Hospital received the certification after the launch of the Lung Cancer Screening Program offered by the hospital’s Cancer Care Services. The program offers a low-dose CT lung cancer screening to patients who meet the National Comprehensive Cancer Network criteria. A low-dose CT scan can help detect lung cancer in its earliest stages, when the disease is most treatable.

The designation by the Lung Cancer Alliance also recognizes Porter Regional Hospital’s Lung Multidisciplinary Team who meets regularly to improve lung cancer patient management and expedite care. The team is comprised of thoracic surgeons, radiologists, pathologists, pulmonologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, hospitalists, family physicians, and clinical staff.

“For years, we had no lung cancer screening. Now, we have an effective tool for early detection to offer patients who are at high risk to develop lung cancer,” said Cardiothoracic Surgeon Walid Khabbaz, M.D., chair of the Lung Cancer Screening Program. “Porter’s CT Lung Cancer Screening Program relies on a multidisciplinary team of physicians, patient navigator and staff to help move patients through the process based on the outcomes of their screenings. We could not do this without this multidisciplinary model of care.”

According to the Lung Cancer Alliance, the criteria for the Screening Center of Excellence accreditation requires institutions to provide clear information, based on current evidence, on who is a candidate for lung cancer screening and the risks and benefits of the screening process in a language appropriate to the candidate; comply with comprehensive standards based on best practices for controlling screening quality, radiation dose and diagnostic procedures; work with a multidisciplinary clinical team to carry out a coordinated continuum of care for screening, diagnosis, and disease management based on best practices; include a comprehensive smoking cessation program in its screening and continuum of care program based on best practices evidence; report results expeditiously to those screened and the referring physician, transmitting copies of all reports and scans in a timely manner if requested for a second opinion or transfer of care; provide those screened with information on how they can donate images and biospecimens to advance research in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of all types of lung cancer; and participate in outcome data collection in order to further refine risk evaluation, screening, and diagnostic protocols.

Lung cancer remains the number one cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, attributing to more deaths per year than breast cancer, prostate cancer, and colorectal cancer combined. For more information on the Lung Cancer Alliance, visit http://www.lungcanceralliance.org.

Porter Health Care System has two hospital campuses and seven outpatient facilities serving Porter, Lake, LaPorte, Starke, Newton, Marshall and Jasper counties. With more than 350 physicians representing 50 medical specialties on the medical staff, Porter Health Care System is committed to medical excellence and personalized, patient-centered care.