News/PR
Bay Medical First in the State & Among First in Nation to Receive National Certification as a Heart Attack Center of Excellence
January 10, 2005
Panama City, Florida - Bay MedicalÕs Heart Institute has earned the Gold Seal of Approval™ for health care quality in the treatment of Acute Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack) and is the first in the state of Florida and among the first in the nation to receive this certification. This certification was awarded by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), an organization that evaluates and accredits more than 15,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States.
To earn this distinction, the heart attack program had an extensive on-site evaluation review by a team of Joint Commission reviewers in December and will continue to have evaluations every two years in order to maintain the certification. The program is evaluated against Joint Commission standards through an assessment of the program's processes, the program's ability to evaluate and improve care within its own organization, and interviews with patients and staff. The evaluation must show that Bay Medical exceeds national benchmarks that are set in all areas of patient care related to heart attack including the time it takes for a patient to receive treatment, medication administration, testing procedures, and mortality.
"This certification means Bay Medical does the right things and does them well for heart attack patients," says Charles A. Mowll, executive vice president, Business Development, Government, and External Relations, Joint Commission.
ÒBay Medical voluntarily pursued this comprehensive, independent evaluation to enhance the safety and quality of care we provide," says Steve Johnson, CEO of Bay Medical. "We're proud to achieve this distinction."
The Joint Commission launched its Disease-Specific Care Certification program in 2002. It is the first program of its kind in the country to certify disease management programs. A list of Joint Commission-certified programs is available at www.jcaho.org.
Founded in 1951, the Joint Commission seeks to continuously improve the safety and quality of care provided to the public through the provision of health care accreditation and related services that support performance improvement in health care organizations. An independent, not-for-profit organization, the Joint Commission is the nation's oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care.
For more information please contact Christa Hild at 747-6542 or Mary Lindsay, Director of Emergency & Cardiovascular Services at .