SCAI Publishes Updated Guidelines on CCL Best Practices

May 2, 2016—The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) announced the publication of “SCAI Expert Consensus Statement: 2016 Best Practices in the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory (CCL),” an update to the first-of-its-kind 2012 statement outlining CCL best practices. The update was published online in SCAI’s Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions.

The statement, which cross-references other SCAI reports and documents, clearly reflects the direction in which the profession of interventional cardiology is heading, advised SCAI.

According to SCAI, the document provides CCLs around the country with a set of agreed-upon recommended guidelines developed by practicing expert interventional cardiologists to ensure the highest quality of care and, ultimately, better patient outcomes, as well as improved patient and physician satisfaction. The guidelines include preprocedural, intraprocedural, and postprocedural recommendations.

In the society’s announcement, lead author Srihari S. Naidu, MD, commented, “SCAI created the Best Practices Guidelines in 2012 because there had been no process standardization in cath labs and labs had been working under only local regulation and policy. There is a tremendous appetite among interventional cardiologists for a comprehensive document outlining the details on how a CCL should operate.” Dr. Naidu is Associate Professor of Medicine at the State University of New York, Stony Brook School of Medicine in Stony Brook, New York, and Director of the CCL at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, New York.

As summarized by SCAI, the document includes:

• An updated preprocedure checklist for cardiac catheterization that provides a nurse, technician, an advanced practice professional (eg, physician assistant or nurse practitioner), physician extender, or physician with a set of questions to review with the patient.
• Language on CCL governance and the responsibilities of a CCL director. Techniques are provided on how CCLs can improve function through effective governance and management strategies. 
• Information on cost consideration. Specific strategies CCLs can employ to provide the highest value of care are outlined.
• Information on radial access. There is recent support for radial access procedures, which were not covered in the 2012 statement. Best practices on when radial access is appropriate and considerations CCLs should take are included.
• New evidence on medications. Recent data include medications brought to market after the 2012 document and when to use certain drugs and dosage amounts.
• Recommendations on maintaining appropriate industry relationships, for example: industry’s role in individual CCLs should be consistent with policies set by the hospital and/or director; industry should not have “hands-on” equipment in the CCL, except for defined educational purposes or device preparation; industry should always provide information and advice that is in the best interest of the patient, regardless of other considerations.
• Techniques for enhancing patient satisfaction in the CCL including preprocedure, intraprocedure, and postprocedure recommendations for improving patient satisfaction.