CCA of Atlanta Receives 3-Year JCAHO Accreditation

Cardiovascular Care Affiliates congratulates its Atlanta facility on their recent accreditation by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). This award indicates that CCA of Atlanta has met or exceeded all of the nationally recognized standards for quality healthcare as set forth by JCAHO.

CCA of Atlanta is one of few free-standing outpatient cardiac catheterization labs to achieve JCAHO accreditation.

In order to achieve JCAHO accreditation, the facility completed the application process followed by a two day on site survey of the facility and services. The surveyor evaluated all aspects of patient care and awarded a full three year accreditation of the facility. A three year accreditation is the longest accreditation period that can be awarded to a facility.

Founded in 1951, JCAHO has become a world leader in objectively evaluating and accrediting health care organizations. JCAHO has developed the industry?s highest standards for safe and high quality health care delivery.

Dr. Fred Rachman, the JCAHO surveryor for the Atlanta facility, advised during the closing session that there are always two questions he asks himself after he has surveyed a facility:

1. "Would I want to have a procedure at this facility?"
2. "Would I recommend this facility to someone else?"

Dr. Rachman advised that he could, without a doubt, answer ?yes? to both of these questions. He advised that he was very impressed with the quality of patient care, services delivered, physicians, staff and leadership at Cardiovascular Services of Atlanta.

Creation of the Cardiovascular Outpatient Center Alliance (COCA)

In response to the recent CMS Proposed Decision Memo to repeal the National Coverage Determination for cardiac catheterization performed in other than a hospital setting, CCA is supporting efforts to establish a non-profit organization known as the Cardiovascular Outpatient Center Alliance, or ?COCA?, to fill the gap exposed by the AHRQ Technology Assessment of Non-Hospital Cath Labs. We acknowledge the need for a national registry of non-hospital cath labs in the United States, and recognize the need for compliance of non-hospital cath labs with accreditation programs to document and report safety and outcomes. The number of outpatient labs that participate in established accreditation programs such as Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) is unknown. COCA is being created to collect and report clinical and financial information about outpatient cath labs to demonstrate their safety and positive economic impact on the healthcare system.

COCA?s vision is to achieve the highest quality of healthcare delivery in cardiovascular outpatient centers.

COCA?s mission will be:

• Benchmarking and Peer Review: Collect, analyze, and report clinical data for maintaining and improving quality of care
• Political Advocacy: Collaborate with the Cardiology Advocacy Alliance in cooperation with the ACC, SCAI, Cardiology Leadership Alliance, and MedAxiom to lobby CMS, other payers, and Congress regarding common issues such as the proposed decision by CMS to repeal coverage for cardiac catheterization performed in a non-hospital setting
• Universal Accreditation: Serve as a resource to assist members who are not yet accredited to gain accreditation
• Clinical Trial Development: Organize clinical trials to address clinical quality issues in outpatient cardiovascular centers to satisfy CMS and other interested parties
• Represent the Highest Quality: Membership will symbolize the highest quality to payers and public
• Networking: Members will learn from peer-to-peer interactions

CCA will schedule an organizing meeting for COCA in January 2006. Until the formal creation of COCA, CCA will use this website to post information regarding the organization. If you are interested in becoming a founding member of COCA, please contact Steve Blades at sblades@www.ccacardio.com./.

Peripheral Angioplasty Covered for Physician Office-Based Procedures

As of January 1, 2005 Medicare will reimburse physicians for performing peripheral interventions in their offices. The vascular beds eligible for outpatient peripheral interventions are brachiocephalic trunk or branches, renal, visceral, aortic, iliac, femoral-popliteal, and tibioperoneal arteries.

CCA of Spokane Receives 3-Year AAAHC Accreditation

Cardiovascular Care Affiliates congratulates its Spokane facility on their recent accreditation by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Healthcare (AAAHC). This award indicates that CCA of Spokane has met or exceeded all of the nationally recognized standards for quality healthcare as set forth by the AAAHC.

CCA of Spokane is one of a handful of outpatient labs in the United States to achieve AAAHC accreditation, and is the only center in the state of Washington to have earned this distinction. CCA of Spokane was the first outpatient cath lab in Washington and continues to set the standard for quality in outpatient cardiology services.

To achieve accreditation the facility underwent an extensive application process followed by a two day on site survey of its facility and services. The survey team evaluated all aspects of patient care and returned a decision to accredit the lab for a period of three years. Three year accreditation is the most favorable accreditation decision that the organization assigns to any facility.

Founded in 1979, the AAAHC has become the leader in ambulatory health care accreditation. The Accreditation Association serves as an advocate for the provision of high quality health care, through the development of nationally recognized standards and through its survey and accreditation programs.

"The experience of CCA quickly becomes evident."

"Clearly a well managed facility."

"The administrator provides a clear understanding of the procedures and processes for managing this facility."

"The entire staff communicates freely??.The organization appears very open."

"First Class" (facilities)

"For a new organization, they provide a remarkably advanced quality improvement program that documents the use of a system, several QI processes and demonstrates the ability to improve even for multifaceted, complex problems."

Innovation in Intervention: i2 Summit 2006 at ACC ’06 – Atlanta – March 11-14

CCA congratulates Dr. William Knopf, its founding partner, for his leadership in creating a new interventional cardiology conference in partnership with the American College of Cardiology. On June 4 th, 2005 the ACC announced that it will join forces with Intervention200X to launch Innovation in Intervention (i2) Summit 2006, a comprehensive annual meeting designed for interventional cardiologists. The meeting will take place March 11-14, 2006, at the ACC?s Annual Scientific Session in Atlanta, Georgia. William D. Knopf, M.D., Managing Partner of the Atlanta Cardiology Group and Richard S. Stack, M.D., Professor Emeritus at Duke University, created Intervention200X, the first bi-directional, live symposium in 2002, in which educational content was delivered to multiple national sites. ?Interventional cardiology started out as pioneering,? says Dr. Knopf, i2 program committee co-chair. "The i2 Summit 2006 is designed to deliver what that global community needs ? evidence-based content that will help us take better care of our patients, and the opportunity to exchange views and experiences." CCA will host a Mini-Symposium for prospective partners in conjunction with i2. To learn more about the i2 Summit, visit http://www.acc.org/2006ann_meeting/i2_summit/home.htm.

CCA Mini-Symposium Held June 4th at INTERVENTION2005

CCA held a Symposium in conjunction with INTERVENTION2005 in Las Vegas on June 4th. The session was chaired by Dr. William Knopf, a founder of CCA, the managing partner of the Atlanta Cardiology Group, and the Course Director of INTERVENTION2005. The symposium covered the clinical, financial, and legal aspects of partnering with CCA in outpatient cardiovascular services, especially outpatient cath labs, for the provision of diagnostic caths and peripheral interventions.

Our next meeting for prospective partners will be October 29th in New Orleans. That meeting will be co-chaired by Dr. Harry Jacobson, Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and Chairman, CCA, and Dr. Craig Walker, Medical Director, Cardiovascular Institute of the South, and member of CCA's Board of Directors. Our symposium coincides with the New Cardiovascular Horizons 2005 conference organized by the Cardiovascular Institute of the South.