Indiana University Health First in Nation to Receive Heart Failure System Accreditation
An IU Health North Release
Distinction recognizes collaboration among hospitals, community awareness
INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana University Health on Thursday became the first health network in the nation accredited system-wide for heart failure care by the Healthcare Accreditation Colloquium. This accreditation means IU Health has met several milestones in four key areas:
- System structure: This refers largely to the system’s size, which is currently at 18 hospitals.
- Governance and behavior: IU health has established a heart failure leadership team tasked with improving the patient experience.
- Functional relationships and interconnectivity: This covers everything from working with Indiana nursing homes to ensure they offer residents low-sodium meals to teaching nurses how to educate patients on how to care for their condition once they leave the hospital.
- Measurement: IU Health is committed to measuring its quality, market share and participation in national heart care registries.
“This designation reflects that every patient receives the most preeminent care, whenever and wherever served,” said Dr. Irmina Gradus-Pizlo, director of IU Health’s Advanced Heart Care Program. “Every IU Health facility makes a valued and significant contribution toward achieving the goal of preeminent care, and when we come together we can provide the best care to patients in all of the communities we serve.”
The accreditation, which took more than one-and-a-half years to attain, reflects IU Health meeting and adhering to the highest evidence-based standards of care in the field, while caring for patients outside hospital walls. It also recognizes collaboration among IU Health’s 18 hospitals and the system’s ability to transfer patients within the network for advanced care. More than 800,000 Americans are diagnosed with heart failure each year.
For example, Goshen’s Ken Horst began treatment for a heart condition with Dr. James Dunnick at IU Health Goshen Hospital before being transferred to IU Health Methodist Hospital for a ventricular assist device and, ultimately, a heart transplant. Thanks to collaboration among physicians throughout the IU Health system, Horst was able to get the care he needed – and in time.
“I felt like I faced death a half dozen times, so I was hoping that I could find some help somewhere,” Horst, 60, said. “I initially didn’t know where exactly that would be, but it turned out there are awesome docs at IU Health Methodist Hospital, especially Dr. Gradus-Pizlo.”
Dr. Tony Joseph, chief executive officer of the Healthcare Accreditation Colloquium, said Colloquium Accreditation is important because it gives the public insight into the complex world of healthcare and may help in their decision-making when choosing a place for heart failure care.
“For those with the disease and their families,” he said, “this signals a commitment to ‘relationship-based care’ that focuses on meeting the needs of the human person, not an anonymous patient.”
To interview Drs. Irmina Gradus-Pizlo or Tony Joseph, please contact Kristofer Karol at 317.962.4589 or kkarol@iuhealth.org.
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About Indiana University Health
Named among the “Best Hospitals in America” by U.S.News & World Report for 14 consecutive years, Indiana University Health is dedicated to providing a unified standard of preeminent, patient-centered care. A unique partnership with Indiana University School of Medicine – one of the nation’s leading medical schools – gives our highly skilled physicians access to innovative treatments using the latest research and technology. Discover the strength at iuhealth.org.