Levine Cancer Institute was named a “Planetree Designated Patient-Centered Organization,” making it the only cancer network worldwide to earn Planetree designation, the highest achievement in patient-centered care.
In addition to being the first outpatient cancer network to receive the designation, Levine Cancer Institute is the first multi-site center to receive the designation and the first outpatient network. Because of this, the institute’s role in defining criteria and benchmarks for other cancer centers and multi-site institutes seeking designation is critically important. More than 20 of the institute’s sites share the designation.
“The designation signals to patients, providers and everyone with an investment in cancer care that Levine Cancer Institute is an organization where providers partner with patients and families, and where patient comfort, dignity, empowerment and well-being are prioritized with providing top-quality clinical care,” said Susan Frampton, president of Planetree.
The Planetree Designation is an award that recognizes excellence in person-centeredness across the continuum of care and is based on evidence and standards within the health care industry. The criteria that an organization must satisfy to achieve designation reflect what patients, family members and health care professionals believe matters most to them during a health care experience, including quality and clinical outcomes.
There are 31 health care providers in the U.S. and 81 world-wide that have earned Planetree Designation. “Patient-centered care is about providers taking a step back and realizing that we’re experts in cancer care and treatment but patients are experts in their lives and needs, and it’s this recognition that is at the center of everything we do,” said Derek Raghavan, president of the Levine Cancer Institute.
“By combining the leading-edge oncology treatments, nationally renowned physicians, careful cancer research and demonstrated clinical outcomes with a truly patient-centered care approach, we have built a network that allows our Institute to provide tremendous clinical care for patients. This extends far beyond the traditional definition of care and demonstrates what is possible when all aspects of treatment are truly integrated. Carolinas HealthCare System has its own internal system of evaluating patient-centric care, but this external validation for our cancer institute program will be crucial for the welfare of our patients and families.”
To achieve designation, Levine Cancer Institute has undergone rigorous site visits by a team of Planetree representatives, which included focus groups with recent Levine Cancer Institute patients, families and current staff validating that specific patient-centered policies are in place. The process also included a review of the organization’s performance on patient satisfaction and quality of care measures, and how measurement of these indicators improves organizational outcomes.
