“This initiative involves systems prior to the patient’s arrival such as EMS, the Emergency Department and the admitting services, said Polly Moore, M.D., cardiologist and co-medial director of this program at St. Francis Heart Center. “It is also very involved for nursing services, cardiac rehab and other ancillary services.”
Because heart failure is a progressive medical condition, it requires a long-term commitment to care from both the patient and the health care team. This process improvement effort will be ongoing with case reviews and ongoing continuing medical and nursing education.
Heart failure is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the
SCPC’s goal is to help medical facilities manage the heart failure patient more efficiently and improve patient outcomes.
The center has demonstrated its expertise and commitment to quality patient care by meeting or exceeding a wide set of stringent criteria and undergoing an onsite review by a team of SCPC’s accreditation review specialists. The center’s protocol-driven and systematic approach to patient management allows physicians to reduce time to treatment.
St. Francis is one of five hospitals in
Key areas in which a facility with Heart Failure Accreditation must demonstrate expertise include the following:
· Emergency Department (ED) integration with emergency medical services
· Emergency assessment of patients with symptoms of acute decompensated heart failure-diagnosis
· Risk stratification of the heart failure patient
· Treatment for patients presenting to the ED for heart failure
· Heart failure discharge criteria from the ED, observation or inpatient stay
· Heart failure patient education in the ED , observation and inpatient units
· Personnel, competencies and training
· Process improvement
· Organizational structure and commitment
· Heart failure community outreach
To learn more about services at Franciscan St. Francis Heart Center, go to www.myheartcare.net.
