The cardiovascular service line continues to be a primary focus for regulatory bodies, quality groups, and professional clinical organizations, and as a result, remains competitive for hospitals in markets across the country. Many hospital leaders need to consider strategies for market distinction, including program accreditation. Gaining momentum as a differentiator, formal accreditation of either the service line or specific procedural components within cardiovascular, such as open heart surgery, cardiac intervention, electrophysiology, peripheral vascular procedures, etc., can position a program for success.
Achieving accreditation is a way to substantiate best practice through ongoing case review, quality measures, and benchmarks. Corazon believes having third-party, expert scrutiny on the quality of care provided, a critical measure of success in today’s ever-evolving healthcare landscape, can translate into a tangible positive impact on program volumes, outcomes, and finances.
Not only does Corazon Accreditation offer CV programs the ability to drive continuous quality improvement, but also allows operational improvement and efficiencies. The time is NOW to commit to program accreditation as a means to reach new heights.
In late summer of 2020 Corazon released three distinct Levels of Accreditation to offer clients a more customized experience for accreditation of Cath/PCI services. These distinct levels bring added benefits and more frequent connectivity to our surveyor team, as they build upon the current foundation of our GOLD (Core) E3 accreditation processes, and offer our client base the ability to connect with one another, share best practices, and give each program leader an appreciation of how the healthcare community continues to benefit from peer-to-peer networking.
Corazon’s levels of accreditation are defined as follows, with each cumulative from the one prior:
Corazon’s GOLD Accreditation includes: onsite survey scheduled in collaboration with a CV quality meeting, CCL case observation, random chart reviews, and Corazon standards review, external angiographic case reviews by a Corazon medical advisor, access to Corazon accreditation user group, free Corazon conference registration, and much more.
Corazon’s GOLD PLUS Accreditation includes the above, and: a Corazon surveyor will join remotely into seven quality meetings over the two-year accreditation cycle, discounts on other Corazon services, two hours of consulting support a quarter, three gratis Corazon conference registrations, and a mid-cycle review.
Corazon’s PLATINUM Accreditation includes the above, and: four hours of consulting support per quarter, five gratis Corazon conference registrations, a mid-cycle review, an operational metrics dashboard, up to 10 chart reviews over two years for a coding and billing “fiscal” review, as well as quarterly peer review – 10/quarter, totaling 80 over the two-year accreditation cycle.
We continue to convert GOLD accreditation clients to one of these expanded levels depending on their unique situation, state requirements, and other needs. Many of our clients are finding value in the ongoing connectivity to our expert resources, and have benefited from our remote participation within their CV quality forums, while others fully embrace the quarterly and ongoing external peer review to ensure appropriateness of care across their physician providers. Our collaborative approach affords our client base access to the latest and greatest industry trends, allowing those programs to become better prepared as the face of healthcare continues to evolve.
No one knows what the future will hold, even amidst the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic; however, a continued focus and attention to offering the highest quality and level of cardiovascular care is essential to hospitals providing life-saving cardiovascular services to their patients.
Corazon continues to work with hospitals beyond just accreditation, as many organizations are strategically preparing to embrace for changes in a healthcare model shifting from the inpatient care setting to services being offered in a more efficient and cost savings model of an ambulatory surgery center (ASC). Corazon welcomes the opportunity to discuss how we can elevate your CathPCI program with one of our Levels of Accreditation through our E3 approach.
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