American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association
Authors: Richard A. Chazal, Steven R. Houser
Journal: Circulation (2016)

I n today's healthcare environment, terms such as value-based, transparent, efficient, evidence-based, accountable, and cost-effective are used frequently when talking about new care delivery models and models of physician and hospital reimbursement.Within the context of this environment, accreditation is increasingly being looked to as a means of helping hospitals and physicians successfully prepare for and participate in these new models."Organizations that participate in accreditation confirm their commitment to quality improvement, risk mitigation, patient safety, improved efficiency, and accountability; it sends a powerful message to key decision-makers and the public.This performance measure contributes to the sustainability of the health care system," wrote Wendy Nicklin, president and chief executive officer of Accreditation Canada, in an updated 2015 review of scholarly papers related to hospital accreditation. 1 In a 2010 Presidential Advisory, the American Heart Association (AHA) identified the need, opportunity, and responsibility for the cardiovascular community to provide greater leadership in the design, development, and offering of accreditation services with the potential to provide clinical care.As stated in the Advisory by Dr Gregg C. Fonarow, "While several accreditation, recognition and certification programs exist, the program would fill an unmet need for a trusted, objective, patientcentered standard to comprehensively address cardiovascular diseases." 2 Accreditation programs are typically designed to provide hospitals and health systems with an evidence-based framework for process improvement that is intended to improve operational effectiveness and contribute to the achievement of the triple aim of improved outcomes, better care, and lower costs.Most programs are cyclic in nature and involve several phases, including assessment, implementation, and validation, which must be followed before achieving accreditation.These phases allow for gap analysis, building of teams and action plans, alignment of resources, actual rollout of improvement strategies, and measuring of success against preestablished criteria.The benefits of accreditation are many, including improved internal communication and collaboration, strengthened effectiveness of interdisciplinary teams, risk mitigation, increased use of the latest evidence-based research and guidelines at the point of care, and enhanced patient education and engagement. 1 In the cardiovascular space, accreditation services such as those offered through the AHA and, more recently, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) have united professionals from across the entire healthcare spectrum around the shared goal of improving clinical processes for the early assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of cardiovascular patients.The ACC added accreditation services to its suite of cardiovascular quality improvement offerings for hospitals and other facilities earlier this year when the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care merged with the College.Over the last 18 years, the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care has accredited ˃1000 hospitals and other