SCA Foundation Participates as Stakeholder
The Joint Commission (JC) conducted a national stakeholder panel on Sudden Cardiac Arrest Performance Measurement on April 22 in Chicago. The panel was tasked with:
- Determining whether there is a need for a performance measurement set for the prevention and treatment of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA)
- If there is such a need, determining how the measurement set should be articulated and further, identifying areas of concentration that could yield the most profoundly positive public health impact.
Presently, there are multiple sources of performance measurement, which unfortunately are inconsistent with one another.
The JC has a well-tested process for measure development and implementation in multiple areas of healthcare, both in and outside hospitals. The JC panel anticipates the proposed measures will give a robust picture of care for SCA in the United States.
Among other things, the panel determined that a key focus should be on patients who have had a heart attack (myocardial infarction, or MI), and who are therefore at high-risk for SCA. Research shows that 75-80% of SCA patients had a previous MI.
The panel also discussed the need for improved post-discharge care, noting this care is critical to survival and often inadequately addressed.
Whether the panel will ultimately issue performance measurement standards or best practice recommendations (preferred practices) is to be determined.
Organizations represented on the JC panel include Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, American College of Cardiology, American College of Emergency Physicians, American Heart Association, American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, American Nurses Association, American Society of Health System Pharmacists, Heart Rhythm Society, National Association of EMS Physicians, National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, National Medical Association, National Quality Forum, SCA Foundation, Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, and the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association.