A cancer diagnosis will leave you floored. You’ll have a lot of questions, and one of the first will be “what’s next?”

Odds are, the physician who diagnosed your cancer will have some thoughts about where you should go for treatment. Their insight and experience in referrals can be invaluable. But ultimately, the choice of where you’ll receive care is up to you.

If you’re looking at cancer treatment providers, here are some things to consider.

1. Location

One of the first considerations is making sure distance isn’t an obstacle to getting care.

Depending on your treatment plan, you may be making daily trips to a cancer center for radiation treatments for a week or longer. You also will be going for frequent follow-up visits and perhaps even IV infusions of cancer-fighting medications.

Some of these treatments may make it hard to drive yourself to your visits, so you’ll need to rely on loved ones for transportation. While there are excellent cancer treatment centers in urban areas like Atlanta and Birmingham, there are also community-based options like Tanner in Carrollton that offer the same level of care and technology closer to home — and without the traffic. 

2. Collaboration

I am an expert on radiotherapy. My colleagues are experts on blood disorders, the digestive system, the reproductive system, the urinary tract and more. Other colleagues specialize in different approaches to treatment, like surgery, chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

Still others support our effort to care for you as a whole person — chaplains for spiritual needs, dietitians for nutritional needs, counselors for mental needs and more.

We all work together because we know that multidisciplinary collaboration is essential for the best outcomes.

When choosing a cancer treatment provider, look for that collaborative approach, with providers who work hand-in-hand, sharing their insights and expertise. At Tanner, for instance, we have a very active “tumor board” with physicians from a host of disciplines that meets regularly to discuss each patient’s case. 

3. Accreditation

No cancer treatment center is going to be modest about their capabilities. That’s why third-party accreditation is so important. 

Independent accrediting agencies — like The Joint Commission and the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer — conduct thorough evaluations of cancer treatment providers. They look at our outcomes, the quality of our equipment and our approaches to care to decide if we’re a safe, reliable choice.

4. Innovation

Clinical trials are essential to developing new, more effective and less invasive ways to fight cancer. They also give you an opportunity to be on the leading edge of cancer care, giving you access to treatments months or years before they become more widely available.

Participation in clinical trials does not mean that you will receive a placebo or inferior care — rather, that you’ll either receive the current standard of care for your cancer or a new therapy.

Clinical trial participation also demonstrates your cancer care team’s commitment to staying abreast of the latest treatments and research, as they’re involved in cultivating that research themselves.

You can learn more about clinical trials from the American Cancer Society. 

5. Compassion

This is the hardest of the five items on this list to define — but often, it can be the most critical.

You want a cancer treatment center that will treat you with kindness. One that understands that not just you, but also your loved ones, are going through this difficult, frightening time.

Community cancer treatment providers like Tanner understand that we’re not treating patients — we’re treating neighbors. Our doctors, nurses and other staff live in the communities we serve, so you’re never just a faceless number.

When going through something as emotionally and physically draining as cancer treatment, compassion among your care team is a huge source of comfort.

Learn more about our approach to care at TannerCancerCare.org.