prostate cancer patients is that close to 100%
of men were alive 5 years later, so prognosis,
regardless of treatment, is excellent.
Consequently, if cure rates are the same, what
about side effects from surgery and radiation?
Dr. Hoffman and colleagues examined this
data and indeed there were differences in side
effects. In general, side effects immediately
after surgery or radiation improved over
time. However, at 5 years post-treatment,
surgery was associated with worse urinary
incontinence for men with favorable- and
unfavorable-risk prostate cancer. The results
also showed that for men with unfavorable-
risk prostate cancer, surgery resulted in worse
sexual function at five years when compared
to radiation with ADT.
In my practice, I counsel men to carefully
consider their treatment options and obtain
multiple opinions from both radiation
oncologists as well as urologists. Too many
men panic at hearing the “C” word and
make uniformed, fear-based decisions. In
addition, the plots show that even men who
followed an “active surveillance” protocol,
experienced urinary incontinence and
erectile dysfunction, which can be due to age,
heart disease, or other conditions un-related
to their prostate cancer. It is important to
explore all treatment options and understand
your specific prostate cancer diagnosis, risk
group, and discuss your overall health and
lifestyle.
HOSPITAL NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED WITH AN ‘A’ FOR THE
FALL 2019 LEAPFROG HOSPITAL SAFETY GRADE
Scotland Memorial Hospital was
awarded an ‘A’ in the fall 2019 Leap-
frog Hospital Safety Grade, a national
distinction recognizing Scotland Memo-
rial Hospital’s achievements protecting
patients from harm and providing safer
health care.
The Leapfrog Group is an independent
national watchdog organization driven
by employers and other purchasers
of health care committed to improv-
ing health care quality and safety for
consumers and purchasers. The Safety
Grade assigns an ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’ or ‘F’
grade to all general hospitals across
the country based on their performance
in preventing medical errors, injuries,
accidents, infections and other harms to
patients in their care.
“At Scotland Health Care System, safe
and high-quality care are the most
important pillars of our system,” said
hospital CEO Greg Wood. “We are com-
mitted to being a highly reliable organi-
zation that patients can trust with one
of their most precious valuables, their
health.
“The Leapfrog score is proof to the com-
munity that we are who we say we are,
‘Closer Care that is Better by Far’” he
added. “I am proud to serve on a team
of trustees, physicians and staff who
make patient safety their top priority.”
Developed under the guidance of a
national expert panel, the Leapfrog Hos-
pital Safety Grade uses 28 measures of
publicly available hospital safety data to
assign grades to more than 2,600 U.S.
acute-care hospitals twice per year. The
Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is
peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and
the results are free to the public.
TOP SEARCHES
Dr. Cheryl Davis, chief medical officer,
praised the Clinical Quality Committee
under Dr. Ralph Carter’s leadership and
the Board’s commitment to ensuring our
communities have safe, compassion-
ate and high-quality healthcare close to
home.
February-March 2020 • 53