Congratulations and welcome to all eight of our Commonwealth of Pennsylvania PCI Exception Committee ACE accredited facilities! We believe that you are important in the interventional cardiology quality improvement process in the US. You have utilized ACE accreditation to standardize your cardiac catheterization laboratory (CCL) with quality metrics for all catheterization laboratories, so that your institutions can provide elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) services, without onsite open heart surgery (OHS) to local residents.
This initiative has resonated with other states, and several have responded to the same vision, commitment and capabilities by contacting ACE to discuss how they can work with their low volume or rural CCLs to provide elective PCI services, without onsite OHS to their local residents. Local treatment may also be beneficial for families, because it means that caregivers and relatives of the patient will be able to participate and support their family member at a local facility.
To provide background on this initiative, in January, 2014, the Commonwealth of PA stated that Pennsylvania CCLs without onsite open heart surgery that wish to perform elective PCI at their facilities must be accredited. In addition, they stated that the accrediting organization must be state department or health-approved with standards at least equal to those of the Accreditation for Cardiovascular Excellence (ACE).
"ACE was selected at UPMC East because of their high standards, their leadership in the industry and because they are sponsored by ACC and SCAI," stated Laurie Rieger, RT (R) (CV), Manager of Cardiovascular Services. "The state has a goal to deliver the highest quality invasive cardiovascular care to Pennsylvania residents. ACE is a partner with our cardiac catheterization lab and the state to set the standard for quality in Pennsylvania."
"We chose ACE for the accreditation process because it is the premier provider of Cath/PCI accreditation. Under the sponsorship of SCAI and ACCF, ACE sets the highest standards of quality in the provision of invasive cardiovascular care," said Al Zoda, MD, FACC, Cardiologist with Mount Nittany Physician Group.
The momentum continues as the seventh and eighth PA PCI programs to achieve ACE accreditation join six other PA hospitals. The first five PA facilities to achieve ACE accreditation earlier this year under the Commonwealth's exception rules include:
- Armstrong County Memorial Hospital (ACMH) in Kittanning, PA
- Monongahela Valley Hospital in Monongahela, PA
- Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College PA
- University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) East in Pittsburgh, PA
- UPMC McKeesport in McKeesport, PA
Holy Redeemer Hospital in Meadowbrook, PA, Meadville Medical Center (MMC) in Meadville, PA and Chambersburg Hospital in Chambersburg, PA are the sixth, seventh and eighth PA facilities, respectively, to complete the ACE accreditation process in an effort to expand PCI services under new state regulations. The next step is for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Exceptions Committee to provide full approval for each facility.
One additional PA facility is completing the final stages of ACE accreditation. To date, 9 of 17 PA facilities -- more than half of those without OHS backup and with the opportunity to expand elective PCI services if they become accredited -- have chosen to partner with ACE. Congratulations and welcome!