| June 11, 2009: Baptist Hospital has achieved accreditation as a Heart Failure InstituteSM by The Healthcare Accreditation Colloquium. "Several thousand Tennesseans are living with heart failure and the incidence of this disease is increasing," said Dr. Stacy Davis, a cardiologist and director of the Comprehensive Heart Failure Center at Saint Thomas Heart at Baptist. "This is a complex disease and a multifaceted team approach is required to successfully manage heart failure. This accreditation helps us implement processes that improve the care of heart failure patients." The Healthcare Accreditation Colloquium brings quality and process improvement to the care of heart failure patients at hospitals by using improvement-based continuous accreditation. The accreditation procedure is modeled after well-established process improvement methods, which include an analysis of current practices, comprehensive report, in depth interviews and onsite review. Accreditation indicates that the hospital is proficient in managing the disease, placing emphasis on both quantity and quality of life. "We have a great team of specialists and caregivers who have helped make us a leader in cardiac care,"said Tod Lambert, cardiac service line executive for Saint Thomas Health Services. "In addition, we have programs specifically focused on heart failure, including a dedicated program at Saint Thomas Heart at Baptist and a successful heart failure pilot program with HealthSpring that is improving the quality of care and reducing readmission rates for patients." The benefits of Heart Failure Institute accreditation by the Healthcare Accreditation Colloquium include: - Streamlined patient care processes that improve the continuum of quality care;
- A commitment to preeminent cardiac care;
- A benchmark improvement process through the utilization of latest "evidence-based" best practices;
- A multi-discipline team approach to treatment; and
- Patient and family education to ensure that individuals with heart failure and their families are knowledgeable about their disease and actively participate in the care and management of their condition without frequent trips to the hospital.
"The heart failure program at Baptist Hospital is the result of years of hard work and constancy of purpose by the clinicians: doctors and nurses working together on behalf of those with heart failure,"said Dr. Tony Joseph, CEO of the Colloquium. "We are pleased that Baptist is among the first ten Accredited Heart Failure Institutes in the nation." Baptist Hospital is a leader in cardiac care and has also been recognized by HealthGrades 2009 quality study earning the HealthGrades Coronary Intervention Excellence Award. The hospital is also five-star rated for coronary interventional procedures and ranked among the top 10 percent in the nation for coronary interventional procedures. Baptist Hospital is a member of Saint Thomas Health Services, a faith-based ministry with more than 6,000 associates serving Middle Tennessee. For more information on Baptist Hospital, visit http://www.baptisthospital.com/. |