Erlanger Health System President and CEO, Kevin M. Spiegel, FACHE, announced that both Erlanger’s Sleep Disorders Center and Erlanger’s Cardiovascular Center of Excellence have received national accreditation.
The Joint Commission awarded certification to Erlanger’s Cardiovascular Center of Excellence and Acute Myocardial Infarction services for demonstrating compliance with The Joint Commission’s national standards for health care quality and safety in hospitals. The accreditation award recognizes the center’s dedication to continuous compliance with The Joint Commission’s state-of-the-art standards. Erlanger is the only hospital in the region and the second hospital in Tennessee to hold this certification.
"In achieving Joint Commission accreditation, Erlanger Health System has demonstrated its commitment to the highest level of care for its cardiac patients," says Mark G. Pelletier, R.N., M.S., chief operating officer, Division of Accreditation and Certification Operations, The Joint Commission. “Accreditation is a voluntary process, and I commend Erlanger for successfully undertaking this challenge to elevate its standard of care and instill confidence in the community it serves.”
The Joint Commission’s hospital standards address important functions relating to the care of patients and the management of hospitals. The standards are developed in consultation with health care experts, providers, measurement experts and patients.
The Erlanger North Sleep Disorders Center has been granted reaccreditation for the next five years by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), the only professional society dedicated exclusively to the medical subspecialty of sleep medicine.
“The AASM is committed to ensuring that those in the field of sleep medicine provide excellent health care and enhance the awareness of sleep as an important element for health, public safety, and the quality of life,” said M. Safwan Badr, M.D., President of American Academy of Sleep Medicine. “By successfully completing the accreditation process and upholding the Standards for Accreditation, Erlanger has shown that it is also dedicated to the advancement of sleep medicine.”
The accreditation process involves detailed inspection of a center’s facility and staff, including an evaluation of testing procedures and policies, patient contacts and physician and staff training. Additionally, the facility’s goals must be clearly stated and include plans for positively affecting the quality of medical care in the community it serves.
"With national accreditations, Erlanger is continuing to make a significant investment in quality on a day-to-day basis from the top down. Accreditations like these provide us a framework to take our organization to the next level and maintain our culture of excellence,” said Kevin M. Spiegel, FACHE. “Achieving national recognition for our services is a major step toward improving the care we provide to this community.”