The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Launch New Certification Program for Comprehensive Stroke Centers
September 4, 2012
Alexandra Paterson
Communications Manager
American Heart Association
214.706.1345
alexandra.paterson@heart.org
View the multi-media release
(OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. – September 4, 2012) The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association announce the September 1, 2012 launch of their new Disease-Specific Care Advanced Certification Program for Comprehensive Stroke Centers.
The goal of this new level of certification is to recognize the significant differences in resources, staff and training that are necessary for the treatment of complex stroke cases. The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association anticipate that, over time, municipalities and regions will develop a formal referral network so the most complicated stroke cases can be treated at the centers best equipped to provide the specialized care that can lead to the best possible outcomes for stroke patients. It is anticipated that there may be more than 200 certified comprehensive stroke centers in the U.S. over the next few years.
“Stroke can be devastating, but the proper treatment program can make a tremendous difference for patients. The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association/American Stoke Association’s advanced certification program will help health care organizations focus on the care processes that produce the best outcomes for complex stroke cases and give Americans who suffer a stroke confidence that these health care organizations are committed to quality care,” says Jean Range, M.S., R.N., C.P.H.Q., executive director of Disease-Specific Care Certification, The Joint Commission.
“The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association is pleased to be a part of the Advanced Certification Program for Comprehensive Stroke Centers. Primary Stroke Centers have greatly improved the care and outcomes for stroke patients and we anticipate that the growth, certification and proliferation of Comprehensive Stroke Centers will build on that success to have a similar effect for those patients with the most severe and challenging types of strokes.” says Mark Alberts, M.D., FAHA, American Heart Association/American Stroke Association spokesperson and Professor of Neurology and Chief of the Division of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Disease at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Advanced Certification for Comprehensive Stroke Centers builds on the Advanced Certification for Primary Stroke Centers that is based on the Brain Attack Coalition's "Recommendations for the Establishment of Primary Stroke Centers" (The Journal of the American Medical Association, June 21, 2000, Vol 283, No. 23). There are currently more than 900 certified Primary Stroke Centers that have an established, formal program to treat stroke patients effectively and consistently with the goal of improving care and outcomes.
For more information about the Advanced Certification for Comprehensive Stroke Centers program, please call 630.792.5291 or e-mail dscinfo@jointcommission.org.