University Times

UPMC has been named a Blue Distinction Center for Cardiac Care for 2007. Blue Distinction is the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association’s nationwide program that hopes to create a level of quality transparency with two goals: engaging consumers to enable more informed health care decisions and collaborating with physicians and hospitals to improve quality outcomes and affordability.

The process used to select Blue Distinction Centers is based on clinical data supplied by hospitals.

The criteria for designation include nationally endorsed quality measures.

The criteria for becoming a Blue Distinction Center for Cardiac Care include:

• The hospital must be a full-service accredited inpatient hospital facility.

• The hospital must perform a required volume of percutaneous coronary interventions and coronary artery bypass graft surgeries and provide a full range of services including inpatient cardiac care and cardiac rehabilitation.

• The hospital must retain a sub-specialty board certification for its cardiac team.

• The hospital must demonstrate quality management and improvement programs.

• The hospital must track cardiac care processes and outcomes for acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, percutaneous coronary interventions and coronary artery bypass graft surgery, including evaluation of complication and mortality rates.