Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, IL, has become the first organization in the country to be certified according to the new Advanced Certification Program in Heart Failure, according to an official statement released on the Joint Commission's Web site.
Developed by The Joint Commission, in collaboration with the American Heart Association, the certificate will recognize those hospitals making efforts to foster better quality of care and outcomes for heart failure patients.
"The Joint Commission commends Advocate Christ Medical Center for demonstrating such a high level of patient care," said Jean Range, MS, RN, CPHQ, executive director of Disease-Specific Care Certification, The Joint Commission, in an official statement. "Achievement of certification signifies that the services at Advocate Christ Medical Center have met the critical elements to achieve long-term success in improving outcomes. It is the best signal to the community that the quality of care provided is effectively managed to meet the unique and specialized needs of heart failure patients."
In order to qualify for the certification program, organizations must:
- Meet the standards and performance measurement requirements under the Joint Commission's Disease-Specific Care Certification program.
- Achieve and sustain for 90 days or more at least 85% compliance with the five achievement measures of Get With The Guidelines—Heart Failure, the American Heart Association's hospital-based quality improvement program designed to close the treatment gap in cardiovascular disease.
- Collect data on Joint Commission's core measures for heart failure and use this data in ongoing performance improvement activities.
Additional information on the award can be found on the Joint Commission Web site at www.jointcommission.org/NewsRoom.