WellStar Cobb and Kennestone Hospitals Renew Status as Accredited Chest Pain Centers

WellStar Cobb and Kennestone Hospitals Renew Status as Accredited Chest Pain Centers
WellStar Health System announced that both WellStar Cobb and Kennestone Hospitals have again received Chest Pain Center Accreditation from the Society of Chest Pain Centers (SCPC), an international not-for-profit organization that focuses on transforming cardiovascular care by assisting facilities in their effort to create communities of excellence that bring together quality, cost and patient satisfaction.

Hospitals that have received SCPC accreditation have achieved a higher level of expertise in dealing with patients who arrive with symptoms of a heart attack. They emphasize the importance of standardized diagnostic and treatment programs that provide more efficient and effective evaluation as well as more appropriate and rapid treatment of patients with chest pain and other heart attack symptoms. They also serve as a point of entry into the healthcare system to evaluate and treat other medical problems, and they help to promote a healthier lifestyle in an attempt to reduce the risk factors for heart attack.

To become an Accredited Chest Pain Center, WellStar Cobb and Kennestone engaged in rigorous evaluation by SCPC for their ability to assess, diagnose, and treat patients who may be experiencing a heart attack. To the community served by both hospitals, this means that processes are in place that meet strict criteria aimed at:

• Reducing the time from onset of symptoms to diagnosis and treatment
• Treating patients more quickly during the critical window of time when the integrity of the heart muscle can be preserved
• Monitoring patients when it is not certain that they are having a heart attack to ensure that they are not sent home too quickly or needlessly admitted to the hospital

Northwest Neurology is Fourth Lab to Receive AANEM Accreditation in Georgia

Northwest Neurology has received Laboratory Accreditation status from the American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM). Saba Bejanishvili, M.D., certified by the American Board of Electrodiagnostic Medicine (ABEM), is the laboratory’s medical director.
 
“I am excited to receive AANEM Laboratory Accreditation status”, explained Saba Bejanishvili, M.D. The AANEM Electrodiagnostic (EDX) Laboratory Accreditation Program is a voluntary, peer review process that identifies and acknowledges EDX laboratories that achieve and maintain the highest level of quality, performance, and integrity based on professional standards. Accreditation provides laboratories specializing in EDX medicine with a structured mechanism to assess, evaluate, and improve the quality of care provided to their patients.

 The AANEM established laboratory accreditation criteria for electrodiagnostic (EDX) laboratories to ensure patients receive quality medical care in a safe environment.  Laboratory accreditation provides patients, referral sources, and payers with a credible measure to differentiate the laboratory’s quality of care. The accreditation standards evaluate the diagnostic services and clinical operations essential to providing quality patient care, which include:

• Clinical staff qualifications and continuing education
• Physical facilities
• EDX equipment
• Protocols for performing EDX studies
• Patient reports
• Policies for ensuring the health and safety of every patient

AANEM is a nonprofit membership association dedicated to the advancement of neuromuscular, musculoskeletal, and electrodiagnostic medicine. For more information about AANEM, or to learn more about laboratory accreditation, visit www.aanem.org.

WellStar’s Clinical Laboratory Services Awarded CAP Re-accreditation

The WellStar Clinical Laboratory has been awarded re-accreditation by the internationally-recognized College of American Pathologists (CAP), based on the results of unannounced site inspections at all five WellStar hospitals in early February.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid recognizes the CAP accreditation program as being equal to, or more stringent than, the federal government's own inspection program.

“CAP is widely-considered to be the world’s leader in laboratory quality assurance,” said David Schlosnagle, M.D., medical director of WellStar Kennestone Hospital’s Clinical Laboratory and chair of the WellStar Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. “We are proud of our teams’ efforts in achieving re-accreditation and honored by comments made by CAP site inspectors on how well run and organized our labs are. They also suggested that other labs could learn from our best practices.”

During the CAP accreditation process, inspectors examine the laboratory's records and quality control of procedures for the preceding two years. CAP inspectors also examine laboratory staff qualifications, management of the laboratory, as well as its equipment, facilities, safety program and record.

Accreditation Readiness - The Use of Restraints

The Joint Commission Accreditation is required for a hospital to see federally-funded patients. Although The Joint Commission typically conducts surveys every three years, they can appear at any time. Our last survey was conducted more than a year ago.

WellStar Receives Two Clinical Distinctions

For the seventh consecutive year, the American Association for Respiratory Care has named WellStar a Quality Respiratory Care Recognition (QRCR) institution. Of the 5,000 hospitals in the United States, only 700 have achieved this distinction; WellStar’s recognition is for all five hospitals.

WellStar Cobb Hospital Awarded Three-Year CARF Accreditation

CARF International recently announced that WellStar Cobb Hospital has been accredited for a  period of three years for its Inpatient Rehabilitation Program - Hospital: Adults and its Inpatient Rehabilitation Program - Hospital: Stroke Specialty Program Adults.  The latest accreditation is the fourth consecutive three-year accreditation that the international accrediting body has awarded to Cobb Hospital.