Banner Health Recognized as First Accredited Heart Failure System in the West

PHOENIX, Oct. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Healthcare Accreditation Colloquium announced today that Banner Health has achieved Heart Failure System Accreditation, becoming the first to achieve this distinction in the western region of the U.S. and the second in the country.

"This distinction demonstrates that we are an industry leader in cardiovascular care, providing our patients with clinical excellence and service," says Dr. John Hensing, executive vice president and chief medical officer. "With heart failure, you must be proactive. Our goal is to make sure we have a streamlined approach to improve our patients' quality of care, and that we're able to help them transition home successfully so that they can treat their heart failure and avoid unnecessary hospitalizations."

The Colloquium's rigorous accreditation process is modeled after 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. Findings include:

• Banner Health has developed a multi-hospital network of integrated care from early diagnosis to advanced care including ventricular assist device for heart failure
• Streamlined processes across the entire continuum of care
• Enabling individuals to participate in their own care with more independence less frequent hospitalization and fewer readmissions for heart failure
• Collaboration with other Colloquium member hospitals across the country

Dr. Tony Joseph, Colloquium CEO, said, "Banner Health has captured the true meaning of systemality applied to healthcare, combining good stewardship of resources to deliver high-quality care across the entire continuum of care for heart failure through process improvement while achieving a high level of patient and family satisfaction."

The accreditation process of the Healthcare Accreditation Colloquium recognizes organizations with a firm and ongoing commitment to improving heart failure care. Colloquium accreditation gives the public insight into the complex world of healthcare that may help those seeking heart failure care. Over 800,000 Americans are diagnosed with heart failure each year. Virtually all individuals with heart failure require hospitalization as the disease progresses. Heart Failure is the number one reason for hospital admission for persons over 65 years of age. Colloquium member hospitals have put into place an organized and systematic approach to caring for those individuals within the community and during hospital admission.

For further information, visit ColoquiumHealth.com

About Banner Health
Banner Health is one of the largest, nonprofit health care systems in the country. The system owns or manages 22 acute-care hospitals, long-term care centers and an array of other services including family clinics, home care services, a nursing registry and home medical equipment services in seven states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming.  To learn more about Banner Health, go to www.BannerHealth.com.

CONTACTS: [email protected]

SOURCE Banner Health