American Heart Association introduces new certification program for home health heart failure patients
To address the growing needs of patients with heart failure (HF), the American Heart Association (AHA) has announced the creation of the Home Health Heart Failure Certification Program.
The program was designed to help assess home health agencies using various AHA guidelines.
According to the AHA, more than six million Americans have been diagnosed with HF. In addition, incidence of the disease is expected grow by 46% from 2012 to 2030.
“This certification program seeks to work with home health agencies to help guide them toward quality improvement efforts for their heart failure patients,” Kyle G. Lavergne, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, director of clinical programs of the LHC Group and founding member of the certification standards writing committee, said in a press release. “Announcing the launch of this exciting and much needed new certification amplifies the mission of the AHA to help every person have the opportunity for a longer, healthier life.”
The certification is centered on the AHA's science-based standards in a number of areas, including program management, patient and caregiver education and support, care coordination and clinical management.
This new certification was created to build confidence that an agency’s HF program is based on standards aligned with the AHA science and that it has been properly evaluated based on criteria designed by a team of HF and home care specialists.
According to the AHA, any home health agency that treats HF and is licensed in the United States is eligible to apply for certification. However, an eligible home health agency must prove that they have a HF program that uses a standardized method of providing services based on current science-based AHA guidelines.