St. Francis Heart Center earns echocardiography national accreditation

INDIANAPOLIS – The St. Francis Heart Center has been awarded three-year accreditation with the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories (ICAEL).

The rating comes in the wake of an extensive peer-review by ICAEL physicians and sonographers, who evaluated all aspects of echocardiography laboratories and patient outcomes at St. Francis. The accreditation applies to the hospital’s Indianapolis, Beech Grove and Mooresville campuses where the echocardiography procedures are conducted.

The program is spearheaded by cardiologist Richard J. Shea, M.D., and Mary Ellen Stewart, technical director of echocardiography. Shea provided the oversight and medical direction for the St. Francis Medical Group’s accreditation at the Indiana Heart Physicians’ office several years earlier.

Echocardiography is a noninvasive diagnostic procedure that uses ultrasound to study structure and motions of the heart, and used to detect cardiac disease.

“This effort has been under way for nearly two years and is a testament to the quality and scope of the work performed at St. Francis,” said Michael Hertel, executive director of the St. Francis Heart Center. “The accreditation is highly regarded in the health-care industry and a distinguishing program characteristic.”

The ICAEL was incorporated in 1996 in response to the need for standardization and improvement of the quality of echocardiographic laboratories.

To learn more about programs and services at the St. Francis Heart Center, go to www.MyHeartCare.net.

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