Christiana Care earns Advanced Certification in Heart Failure
The Joint Commission has recognized Christiana Care’s Center for Heart & Vascular Health with Advanced Certification in Heart Failure.
Achievement of this certification signifies an organization’s dedication to providing the highest quality care for patients with heart failure. It demonstrates that Christiana Care’s services have met critical elements of performance to achieve long-term success in improving outcomes for patients diagnosed with and being treated for heart failure.
Christiana Care underwent a rigorous on-site review in April 2014. A Joint Commission expert evaluated all aspects of the Heart Failure Program and compliance with the requirements for The Joint Commission’s Disease-Specific Care Certification program, as well as heart failure-specific requirements such as collecting Joint Commission core measure data and using it for performance-improvement activities.
“In achieving Joint Commission advanced certification, Christina Care has demonstrated its commitment to the highest level of care for its patients with heart failure,” said Jean Range, MS, R.N., C.P.H.Q. executive director, Disease-Specific Care Certification, The Joint Commission. “Certification is a voluntary process, and The Joint Commission commends Christiana Care for successfully undertaking this challenge to elevate its standard of care and instill confidence in the community it serves.”
The Joint Commission’s Advanced Certification in Heart Failure program, launched in 2011, targets methods of providing safe, successful transitions of care as the patient moves from the inpatient setting to an outpatient setting. The requirements were developed in consultation with an external task force of experts and organizations with expertise in heart failure care, including representatives from the American Heart Association, Heart Failure Society of America and American Association of Heart Failure Nurses. These groups also provided feedback on how to evaluate heart failure programs that provide care in both inpatient and post-acute care settings.
“Christiana Care is thoroughly committed to providing our patients the highest quality heart failure care centered on current scientific research to ensure continued improvement in treatment,” said Mitchell T. Saltzberg, M.D., FAHA, FACC, medical director of Christiana Care’s Heart Failure Program. “In addition to our accreditation by The Joint Commission, Advanced Certification in Heart Failure gives us an opportunity to highlight the exceptional heart failure care we provide for our patients and helps us improve care overall for our community.”