GUEST COMMENTARY
The Society of Cardiovascular
Patient Care Accreditation
M
any hospitals are eager to earn accreditations or certifications for the services
they provide to their patient populations. But not all hospitals understand the differences between accrediting bodies or the various
forms of accreditation. As consumers of accreditation services, hospitals should take time to assess the extent of professional services offered by
accrediting bodies and understand how they can
capitalize on the accreditation investment they’ve
made in terms of both process improvement and
patient engagement.
One way to
distinguish between
accrediting bodies is
to differentiate the
services provided
by each. Looking
at another sector
of commerce helps
us draw a comparison to the world of
accreditation. Take,
for example, financial auditors and
Donna Hunn, MSc, RN, MAN, ANP-C
financial planners.
The auditor ensures
that financial reports are stated in accordance
with accounting standards. The financial planner performs an altogether different service.
The primary role of the financial planner is to
consider the client’s long-term goals and to help
the client maximize their return on investment.
So, while an auditor focuses on the credibility of
financial statements, a financial planner analyzes
and projects how an individual’s investment practices align with their vision for future financial
strength and stability.
Returning to the world of accreditation, there
can be a very marked difference between the roles
that two accrediting bodies play. Hospitals are
wise to clearly differentiate between the services
of accreditation providers in the same market
space. They can choose between those accreditation organizations that simply validate whether
or not a hospital is following accepted guidelines
and if they “meet the mark,” or they can call upon
accreditation providers who act as navigators that
help a facility establish its strategic goals.
While a simple audit of a hospital’s care
processes provides a check against conventional
48 CardioSource WorldNews
performance measures, it does not begin to
address how variance of care can be avoided or
provide the tools that lead to optimal delivery of
cardiovascular patient care, improved financial
outcomes, and attainment of organizational goals.
Hospitals that are interested in more than a ‘pass/
fail’ assessment of their protocols and procedures
should carefully analyze the approach of any accreditation provider and ask themselves how they
intend to truly benefit from the accreditation experience. Accreditation, done thoughtfully, is less
about a once-and-done project and more about an
ongoing journey.
The accreditation experts at SCPC work collaboratively with hospitals to help hospital administrators and the clinical staff responsible for the
care of cardiovascular patients consider how they
can transform care processes and sustain quality
improvement. Very different from accrediting bodies that review hospital metrics and score facilities, SCPC requires that multidisciplinary teams
(including pre-and post-hospital providers) be organized and grants accreditations to facilities that
implement and track sustainable quality improvement across time—improvement that is intended
to continue long after a site visit is conducted.
The method utilized by SCPC requires that hospitals perform gap analysis, target areas in which
variances exist, build action plans, and establish
milestones—all in alignment with guideline-driven
medical therapies, proven process improvement
methodologies, and best practices. It’s a transparent process that allows hospital data to tell the
story of its current state while guiding hospital
staff along a pathway that fosters change for the
better. In essence, it hands the hospital a 3-year
strategic plan that they can utilize as their roadmap to improved patient outcomes.
Just as in the world of financial planning,
accomplishing a hospital’s strategic objectives
demands reliable resources, thoughtful collaboration, and knowledge of how performance
influences outcomes. SCPC’s accreditation programs are the result of the important work of
many talented physicians, nurses, and educators.
In addition, SCPC accreditation specialists are
trained to act as coaches for their assigned hospital teams. Their constituents include diverse
medical specialties such as EMS, emergency
medicine, cardiology doctors and nurses, clinicians and administrators, quality improvement
Accomplishing a
hospital’s strategic
objectives demands
reliable resources,
thoughtful
collaboration,
and knowledge of
how performance
influences outcomes.
professionals, and others.
Every hospital that seeks SCPC accreditation
can rest assured that each qualitative measure or
mandatory item that is tracked through the accreditation process is aligned with the latest ACC/
AHA Guidelines. Further, the essential components of each accreditation program are expressly
intended to offer a consistent approach to the early
assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Best practices and knowledge gained
along the way are continually shared with those
who seek accreditation so that each hospital can
reach their long-term goals and remain on the path
of continuous improvement. ■
ABOUT SCPC
The Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care is the
accreditation services arm of the American College of Cardiology. SCPC accredited hospitals
have some of the highest guidelines compliance
and patient outcomes (associated with the lowest
mortality), as well as some of the lowest readmission rates (associated with economic success) in
the United States.
Donna Hunn, MSc, RN, MAN, ANP-C, is the Accreditation
Clinical Manager of the Society of Cardiovascular Patient
Care in Dublin, OH.
May 2016