BALTIMORE, May 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Today at the Society for
Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 2011 Scientific
Sessions, SCAI announced its national quality improvement program
to measure and improve quality in the cath lab for better patient
care.

Building on its legacy of using evidence to guide new ways to
advance care and improve outcomes, SCAI is launching its national
quality program with its signature “Quality Improvement Toolkit” to
ensure facilities and providers have the tools necessary to deliver
consistent quality care in cath labs as well as the elements
requisite for an accredited cardiac catheterization lab.
 SCAI’s national quality program proactively addresses issues
related to appropriateness of care and underscores SCAI’s
commitment to continuous quality improvement and performance
measurement. To that end, SCAI supports five principles in its
quality initiative:

• CQI in the Cath Lab: The new Quality Improvement
  Toolkit (SCAI-QIT) to improve quality of care for
  cardiovascular patients will be implemented in hospital cath labs
  throughout the United States. SCAI has set a goal to engage 125
  hospitals in using the SCAI-QIT by December 2011.
• Accreditation of Cath Labs: Accreditation of
  Cardiovascular Excellence (ACE) program to accredit cath labs,
  requiring peer-review of a variety of procedures, including cardiac
  catheterization, carotid stenting, angiography and coronary artery
  stenting.
• Third-Party Peer Review: To further drive CQI in the
  cath lab, SCAI has released a white paper, “The Quality
  Imperative: Lessons from the Cath Lab.” In it, SCAI calls for
  uniform use of “cath lab conferences” in which random cases are
  discussed in open forums by physician peers.
• Measurement and Public Reporting

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