New AHA ‘Center of Excellence' Accreditation Available to Eligible Hospitals Treating Advanced Heart Disease

December 27, 2016–The American Heart Association (AHA) announced that beginning January 1, 2017, it will offer advanced accreditation for hospitals that meet the high standards required to treat complex cases of heart disease. The Cardiovascular Center of Excellence accreditation aims to ensure hospitals meet all the care needs of the most complex cardiac patients by integrating the most current research for treatment and prevention of cardiac diseases.

According to the AHA’s press release, a hospital with the Cardiovascular Center of Excellence designation will commit to, among other things:

• Collaborate with communities to provide cardiac prevention and educational events.
• Focus on a system of care that ensures optimal treatment and outcomes.
• Improve quality, care coordination, and compliance with national care guidelines.
• Inform patients about clinical research studies and trial options.
• Promote increased participation in care decisions by patients and family members.

The new designation will help communities identify which hospitals offer the broad scope of cardiovascular care services required to diagnose, treat, rehabilitate, support, and educate patients needing advanced heart disease care. Accredited organizations must prove their ability to provide comprehensive care to cardiovascular patients through well-organized systems, services, facilities, and highly trained and experienced physicians and cardiovascular teams with an emphasis on delivering quality care and positive patient outcomes.

The new designation is part of the AHA’s accreditation collaboration with the American College of Cardiology (ACC). Together the AHA and ACC will help accredited hospitals gain exposure by employing a “Find an Accredited Cardiovascular Center Near You” tool. This online tool will help patients locate the hospitals that treat complex heart disease and adhere to national performance measures. As with other AHA/ACC quality improvement and accreditation programs, Cardiovascular Centers of Excellence will provide extensive data on patients treated within the facility to use for internal quality improvement, administration, and research.

Accreditation for Cardiovascular Center of Excellence will provide a framework to high-performing hospitals offering wide-ranging cardiovascular services to elevate their standards of performance and provide coordinated, high-quality, patient-centered care to the communities they serve.

For more information about the Cardiovascular Centers of Excellence visit heart.org/cardiacaccreditation.