In today’s fast-paced, continuously evolving health care environment, facilities looking to provide the best possible care to their patients are faced with several competing priorities. Cardiovascular care teams strive every day to deliver high-quality care and maintain cost effectiveness while also increasing process efficiency, team productivity and patient satisfaction.
The American College of Cardiology (ACC), through the National Cardiovascular Data Registries (NCDR) and ACC Accreditation Services, offers a suite of tools and programs that inform quality improvement efforts and help guide facilities in aligning their care with the latest evidence-based guidelines, streamlining processes, and identifying cost saving measures.
At the heart of ACC’s quality improvement programs is the mission of transforming cardiovascular care for all. By pairing registry participation and accreditation achievement, facilities can level up their cardiovascular patient care and outcomes, and these returns are clear to see.
Data Powering Improved Outcomes
Behind the best care lies the best data. For more than 25 years, the ACC’s NCDR has helped hospitals, health systems and other facilities optimize patient care, outcomes and operational decisions through data-driven insights, analysis and research.
Starting out as a single registry – the CathPCI Registry – NCDR’s suite of registries address several major clinical areas including acute myocardial infarction (AMI), implantable cardioverter defibrillator implantation, lower extremity peripheral vascular interventions, atrial fibrillation, transcatheter aortic value replacement (TAVR), left atrial appendage occlusion procedures, and pediatric and adult treatment of congenital heart disease, as well as outpatient care for cardiovascular conditions.
Among its many successes, NCDR has played a key role in helping hospitals and health systems reduce door-to-balloon times to guideline-recommended levels; control costs associated with preventable procedural complications like percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) bleeds; reduce avoidable hospital readmissions; and ensure safe and effective implementation of TAVR in the U.S.
Finding Value in Accreditation
Showcasing return on investment (ROI) and communicating the value of the accreditation process to the clinical team and health system leadership continues to be a focus for the ACC.
By partnering with the ACC to earn Chest Pain Center Accreditation, Hackensack Meridian JFK Medical Center was able to take advantage of one-on-one navigation and consultation throughout their accreditation journey, resulting in an annual cost savings of more than $700,000 and a decrease in observation length-of-stay for patients with acute coronary syndrome.
The ACC has been working to develop tools to help facilities identify ROI opportunities and quantify their value. A new tool now available to Cardiac Cath Lab Accreditation participants is the PCI Same-Day Discharge Calculator. Many facilities have low PCI same-day discharge rates due to lack of a formal process, resulting in additional costs of at least $5,000 per case. With the calculator tool, accreditation participants can work with their accreditation review specialist to pull their facility’s NCDR CathPCI Registry data and determine potential cost savings from accreditation. Watch a brief demo here.
ACC Accreditation Services has developed three additional calculator tools for those interested in pursuing Chest Pain Center Accreditation, including an Observation Length-of-Stay Cacluator, Emergency Department Length-of-Stay Calculator and Cardiac Rehabilitation and AMI Readmission Reduction Calculator.
With tools like these, ROI is clear, quantifiable and easily communicable to the clinical care team, facility leadership and other health system decisionmakers. Learn more at ACC’s Quality Improvement for Institutions website.
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