Florida Hospital Zephyrhills achieves Heart Failure Institute accreditation

The Healthcare Accreditation Colloquium announced today that the Heart Institute at Florida Hospital Zephyrhills has achieved status as the state's first accredited Heart Failure Institute.

“The heart failure program at Florida Hospital Zephyrhills is the result of physicians and nurses working together to improve patient care”

"Our heart program serves an older population and heart failure has been our number one readmission," said Gwen Alonso, administrative director of Florida Hospital Zephyrhills Heart Institute. "We are so pleased that our accreditation affirms the excellent patient care we provide and we expect our care will have a positive impact on limiting readmissions."

The accreditation process is modeled after well-established process improvement methods and includes a study of current practices, a gap analysis, in-depth interviews, clinical process mapping, an onsite review, and a comprehensive milestone report with specific action steps. Accreditation indicates that the hospital is proficient in managing the disease, placing emphasis on both quantity and quality of life. The accreditation process assures several patient benefits, including:

• Streamlined processes that improve quality of care
• A patient-focused approach to "transition planning" that prepares the patient for a successful return home and subsequent visit to the doctor's office
• Patient and family caregiver education that enables individuals to participate in their own care, giving them more independence and avoiding frequent hospitalization.

"The heart failure program at Florida Hospital Zephyrhills is the result of physicians and nurses working together to improve patient care," said Tony Joseph, MD, CEO of the Healthcare Accreditation Colloquium. "This latest accreditation as a Heart Failure Institute signals a commitment to 'relationship-based care' that focuses on meeting the needs of the human person through the four domains of heart failure - Community, Hospital, Clinician, and Science."

Colloquium member hospitals are actively engaged on a national basis in the effort to improve heart failure care. The Seal of Accreditation will be presented to Florida Hospital Zephyrhills Heart Failure Coordinator, Doreen Strain, this week at a national meeting of heart failure clinicians, where Strain will make a poster presentation of her work, "The Role of Compassion in Heart Failure Care."