Atrial Fibrillation Accreditation

Abstract

Atrial fibrillation (AF) has been described as a worldwide epidemic with a huge clinical and economic burden to patients and hospitals. In response to this AF epidemic, the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care (SCPC) has developed Atrial Fibrillation v2 Accreditation. The AF v2 Accreditation tool helps hospitals identify specific guideline recommendations or best practices, determine the gap between their current and ideal clinical practice, improve the processes that are necessary to achieve the ideal practice, and monitor their progress in meeting that goal. Through AF Accreditation, hospitals are able to (1) incorporate recognized recommendations and best practices to the assessment, treatment, and management of AF patients, (2) improve risk assessment and provide structure to disposition decisions to avoid unnecessary admissions, (3) engage an integrated team to effectively and efficiently manage AF patients across all transitions of care, and (4) align processes with evidence-based science to improve quality of care which also impacts patient satisfaction and cost efficiencies. In short, SCPC AF v2 Accreditation serves to drive the implementation of evidence-based guideline-driven clinical practice, process improvement, and up-to-date performance measurements, across the full continuum of care for AF patients – from the community through the ED-observation-inpatient experience and back out into the community.