The American College of Cardiology (ACC) will begin offering a new Transcatheter Valve Certification to U.S. hospitals in mid-2019, the College announced March 13.
The external review and certification process will hold hospitals to specific standards for multidisciplinary teams, formalized training and shared decision-making. Participation in a national clinical registries such as the Trancathether Valve Therapy (TVT) registry is required for certification. The TVT registry tracks patient characteristics, procedural indications and outcomes for people undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement and transcatheter mitral valve repair.
"ACC's Transcatheter Valve Certification tool merges the latest science and process improvement methodologies," Phillip D. Levy, MD, chair of the ACC Accreditation Management Board, said in a press release. "This certification incorporates recent guidelines and expert consensus statements regarding the care of patients requiring transcatheter valve therapies."
According to the release, the certification will link process improvements to patient outcomes and will be “responsive to the resourcing at hospitals focused and committed to performance improvement in patient care delivery and coordination post-procedure.” Participation in the program will also connect hospitals to data which can track performance metrics and inform best practices.
More information on this particular certification and other ACC accreditation programs is available here.
Daniel joined TriMed’s Chicago editorial team in 2017 as a Cardiovascular Business writer. He previously worked as a writer for daily newspapers in North Dakota and Indiana.