OECI accreditation of the European Institute of Oncology of Milan: strengths and weaknesses.

The European Institute of Oncology began the process to reach the accreditation promoted by the Organisation of European Cancer Institutes (OECI) in 2012. This accreditation integrates the quality and safety path started in 2001 with accreditation by the Joint Commission International. Despite the presence of diversified accreditations and certifications and the clear need of time, effort, and commitment, the models are complementary. Each model is not to be considered as an end but as a tool for improvement: e.g., mixing accreditation standards led to an improvement in the quality and safety of processes. The present article details the OECI accreditation experience of the European Institute of Oncology, in particular the following strengths of OECI standards: collaboration among several involved parties (patient, volunteer, patient's general practitioner) in the clinical and quality/safety processes; a larger involvement of support personnel (psycho-oncologists, dieticians, physical therapists); and the development of clinical/translational research and innovation in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment to guarantee the best available practice in diagnosis and treatment. The OECI accreditation is specific to oncology and therefore its standards are tailored to a cancer center, both in terms of language used in the standards manual and in terms of patient needs. The OECI accreditation system puts an auditor team with a standards manual in charge of verifying quality and confirms the definition of IEO as a Comprehensive Cancer Center.