Our congenital heart disease (CHD) standards for Pediatric and Congenital Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory (PCCL) accreditation program is designed to ensure that accredited facilities meet the highest standards of care in Pediatric and Congenital Cardiac Care. 

An ACE CHD accreditation means that:

• The facility is dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of quality care
• The facility maintains current best practices as recommended by professional literature and nationally-accepted practice guidelines
• The facility only performs PCCL procedures when they are appropriate
• The facility’s post-procedure care meets nationally-accepted standards
• Patient outcomes meet or exceed those of comparable facilities that follow best practices 

Our accreditation methodology includes:

• Evaluation of facilities by a panel of trained reviewers based on written material provided during the application process.
• A panel of Physicians review procedure documentation, reports,  and images.   Providing  a recommendation for  one of three levels of accreditation:
• FULL Accreditation
• Provisional Accreditation (until specific improvements have been put in place or volume expectations met)
• Deferred
• Depending on the outcome of the initial evaluation process, some facilities may be required to undergo an on-site evaluation conducted by physician experts at the expense of the facility.  Outlier facilities (both high and low performers based on comparison to national outcomes data) will be surveyed to validate outcomes.
• Post accreditation outcome data will be submitted to the accrediting body quarterly, semi-annually, annually or as needed and reviewed to with recommended changes where appropriate.  
• Where indicated, ACE will provide corrective action plans to help facilities meet accreditation requirements