Houston Heart Institute, located on the campus of Houston Medical Center, has been fully accredited for cardiac catheterization and for percutaneous coronary intervention by Accreditation for Cardiovascular Excellence, an organization dedicated to ensuring adherence to the highest quality standards for cardiovascular and endovascular care. ACE accreditation is a professional review of an organization's structure, internal processes, patient safety practices, and clinical outcomes to determine if it meets the standards established by experts in cardiac and endovascular care.

“Achieving these accreditations is a big deal for us and our community,” said Ray Jones, RN, Associate Director of Cardiovascular Services for Houston Heart Institute. “The amount of hours that the staff and physicians spent preparing for this has been well worth the effort. Digging deeper into our processes, procedures, outcomes, and how we provide care has been very beneficial for us. We are a better department for having gone through this process.”

ACE is committed to helping facilities that deliver interventional cardiovascular care to provide gold­standard healthcare by measuring the facility's practices, personnel, processes and outcomes against nationally-accepted best-practice standards. Implemented to supplement existing quality-improvement programs, the ACE outcomes-based accreditation promotes uniform benchmarks, and improves appropriate utilization via an independent, third-party evaluation of facilities and practices.

"We congratulate Houston Heart Institute for seeking and obtaining an ACE cardiac catheterization and percutaneous coronary intervention accreditations," said ACE Chief Medical Officer Bonnie Weiner, M.D. "By submitting to a rigorous, independent evaluation, this facility has shown an uncompromising commitment to provide safe, high-quality care."

The ACE evaluation process involves an in-depth independent review of personnel, quality-assurance processes, facility equipment, and outcomes information. All data collected is measured against nationally-accepted standards for the highest-quality cardiovascular care. Facilities who undergo this voluntary and rigorous process demonstrate an exceptional commitment to providing the best possible care to patients.

“Having received these accreditations for both cardiac cath and PCI, the community can be confident in the care they are receiving while they are in our facility,” stated Cary Martin, Chief Executive Officer for Houston Healthcare. “It also shows our commitment to providing quality care and wanting the absolute best for our patients.”