This summer, ACE updated the ACE standards for coronary intervention procedures to provide new tools to assess your invasive CV program. They are available for free download to provide your cath lab the opportunity to address concern about quality of care.
ACE updated its Cath/PCI standards to reflect the recommendations in the 2013 ACCF/ AHA/ SCAI Clinical Competence Statement on Coronary Artery Interventional Procedures. “The result is a document that every cath lab should review,” said ACE Chief Medical Officer Bonnie H. Weiner, M.D., MSEC, MBA, FSCAI in the SCAI 2013 Fall Newsletter.
“The new standards reflect the latest recommendations on physician training and competency. They are the backbone of ACE’s accreditation and peer review services,” she added. “Examining your cath lab against these benchmarks is a first step toward ensuring your cath lab will withstand the scrutiny everyone in health care is under.”
ACE currently offers two options:
- Cath Lab Accreditation
- E3: More than Peer Review
“Whether you are seeking accreditation or peer review, ACE works with your leadership team to develop comprehensive procedure reports and meet today’s stringent documentation requirements, including AUC,” added SCAI Immediate Past President J. Jeffrey Marshall, M.D., FSCAI, in the SCAI 2013 Fall Newsletter. His cath lab, Northeast Georgia Medical Center, Gainesville, GA sought and earned accreditation for both its PCI and carotid artery stenting programs.
All ACE reviews include an action plan to help cath lab teams address opportunities for improvement. ACE also offers customized project-based or ongoing review services called E3: More than Peer Review, as needed for:
- Focused Professional Physician Review (FPPE)
- Independent External Reviews Covering:
- Angiographic Reviews
- AUC Reviews
- Data Integrity Audits
According to a number of ACE clients, E3: More than Peer Review is the best insurance policy to purchase for their services. ACE developed E3 to assess a program’s invasive work without bias and take the politics out of the organization’s peer review processes. ACE cardiologists work with each client’s team to help identify opportunities for improvement: evaluate image quality, technique, accuracy of findings, and treatments; and if desired, assess appropriate use.
How and why the interventional cardiovascular community should use ACE’s accreditation and peer review services is the subject of a 3-part series on Peer Review beginning with Why Is Peer Review Important?, a new video series featuring ACC Past President and SCAI Trustee Ralph G. Brindis, M.D., MPH, MACC, FSCAI.
To view the entire 3-part series, also featuring Peter C. Block, MD, FSCAI, Professor of Medicine and Cardiology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, Charles E. Chambers, MD, FSCAI, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA, and Joseph D. Babb, MD, FSCAI, East Carolina Heart Institute, click here