Frequently Asked Questions about the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer

The Quality Portal (QPort) is a standard online system for managing accreditation program activities

The Pre-Review Questionnaire (PRQ) is the application that provides necessary information and documentation for site reviewers to assess compliance with the standards. The PRQ must be completed and submitted by programs, with all appropriate documents uploaded, 60 calendar days before the confirmed site visit. The PRQ will only be accessible to programs beginning in the Fall before the year of the site visit. The PRQ will not be available during non-site visit years. The PRQ is accessed by programs in the Quality Portal.

CAnswer Forum is an interactive, virtual bulletin board designed as an open forum to provide guidance and answer questions regarding Optimal Resources for Rectal Cancer Care (2020 Standards). It can also be used for networking and discussion of accreditation standards, cancer data collection and cancer staging, and other relevant topics. Users may ask questions and search topics and must complete a one-time registration where they will create a username and password to access the forum.

No, network accreditation is not available for NAPRC. If the affiliated CoC program has an Integrated Network Cancer Program (INCP) category, then the NAPRC program attaches at the individual hospital level. If multiple hospitals within the INCP wish to achieve accreditation, each hospital must apply and be reviewed separately.

Yes. If your program is not currently accredited, a new program application must be submitted after one full calendar year. For example, if a withdrawal or a Not Accredited award occurs in 2025, a new application cannot be submitted until 2027.

Information about reaccreditation processes may be found in the Resources section of the Quality Portal.

The accreditation process for new programs can be found on the Accreditation page on the NAPRC website.

This FAQ resource has been developed for pathology and radiology related standards.

Since these measures are in development, the four reports are not being rated. However, we encourage the program director to begin to report on data that is relevant to the rectal cancer program for the site’s own registry or through other NCDB tools (i.e., the CQIP report).

The required elements for rectal cancer MRI results are defined in the Society of Abdominal Radiology template.

As of January 1, 2023, Standard 5.13 was retired and is no longer rated at site visits.

No, compliance with Standard 7.1 is not required currently. This standard is still in development.

All surgeons, radiologists, and pathologists on the multidisciplinary care team must complete the NAPRC-endorsed model related to their specialty at least once.

Surgery

The American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS) web-based fundamentals course is now available. More information, including cost, can be found on the ASCRS website.

Radiology

The American College of Radiology (ACR) has developed a course for Standard 8.1 compliance. For more information, including NAPRC application program purchase options and full description, please visit ACR's module webpage.

Pathology

The College of American Pathologists (CAP)’s protocol must be reviewed as a self-study by all pathologist members of the multidisciplinary team. This protocol can be found on the CAP's protocols template website.

The NAPRC Pathology Education Module webinar is now available.

A program that has never been accredited or a previously accredited program whose accreditation lapsed or withdrew from the accreditation process.

The Company ID for a program reapplying for accreditation will remain the same. If any information has changed since its previous accreditation, your program can submit a Site Information Change Request or update the site profile in QPort.

No, these will not be available until after the program has paid the initial accreditation fee and received full access to QPort. However, programs may purchase the NAPRC Optimal Resources for Rectal Cancer Care Gap Analysis Tool, which provides access to many resources and all required templates for the accreditation process. 

Yes. Resources to assist programs with preparation include:

• CAnswer Forum
• NAPRC Optimal Resources for Rectal Cancer Gap Analysis Tool
• Educational Webinars and Conference Materials

No, there is no application fee to apply for accreditation.

The initial accreditation fee for a new program is the same as the annual accreditation fee.

Current fees may be requested by emailing naprc@facs.org with “Accreditation fees” in the subject line.

Programs should be prepared to be visited within six (6) months of the approval of the application. Applications should not be submitted until the program has 12 full months of compliance.

Questions may be sent to naprc@facs.org with “New program application/questions” in the subject line.

 No, all initial site visits must be in person.

Applications must be submitted by June 30 to have an initial site visit scheduled in the same year.

Once the initial application fee has been processed, programs will receive notification that full access to QPort has been granted and four preferred site visit dates can be submitted at that time.

The site visit will review pre-selected charts from a 12-month timeframe for an initial site visit. The charts pulled depend on the date of the site visit. Timeframes may be found on Review Period for Initial Site Visits.

Before Accredited status is granted, corrective action must be completed for any non-compliant standards noted in the report. Programs undergoing an initial site review that has seven (7) or more non-compliant standards will receive a Not Accredited status and will need to reapply after one calendar year.