OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center has been awarded the American Heart Association’s Hypertension Practice Center Certification to recognize the practice’s commitment to following research-based treatment guidelines to care for people with complex or difficult-to-treat hypertension or high blood pressure.
Certified practices must be primarily devoted to patients with hypertension and related disorders, be recognized as referral and treatment resources for resistant and secondary hypertension, and have facilities and personnel capable of assessing and evaluating complicated hypertension problems. Certified Hypertension Practice Centers are recognized as leaders in providing the most up-to-date effective treatment strategies based on current evidence-based research in hypertension.
OSF Saint Francis Medical Center’s Hypertension Center underwent several reviews by American Heart Association quality improvement specialists who evaluated the practice’s policies, procedures and operations to ensure appropriate diagnosis, evaluation and treatment protocols were in place and executed for hypertension patients.
Key areas in which OSF Saint Francis Medical Center’s Hypertension Center demonstrated a commitment to adherence to certification-required treatment requirements include:
• Providing comprehensive evaluation and management for patients with complex hypertension
• Following evidence-based treatment guidelines for hypertension care
• Supporting quality improvement efforts focused on consistent, high-quality patient care
To signify their exemplary efforts, OSF Saint Francis Medical Center’s Hypertension Center will display the official American Heart Association Hypertension Practice Center Certification mark.
Through this certification program, the American Heart Association aims to improve the outcomes of people with complex or difficult-to-treat hypertension through collaboration with medical practices to implement evidence-based treatment guidelines.
The overall goals for the certified Hypertension Practice Center encompass patients, providers, and research and training opportunities through an evaluation of the practice against a professional set of criteria based on demonstrated adherence to key requirements and a rigorous review process.
For more information on the American Heart Association certification programs, visit www.heart.org/certification.
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About OSF HealthCare
OSF HealthCare is an integrated health system founded by The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis and headquartered in Peoria, Illinois. The system includes 18 inpatient facilities encompassing 16 licensed hospitals, two of which operate dual campuses in separate communities. Among these hospitals, 10 are acute care facilities, five are critical access hospitals and one is a continuing care facility. OSF has 2,141 licensed beds throughout Illinois and Michigan and employs more than 27,000 Mission Partners across 170+ locations. These include OSF HealthCare Children’s Hospital of Illinois, the third largest pediatric hospital in the state, and OSF OnCall, its digital health operating entity that offers hospital-at-home care. In addition, OSF operates two colleges of nursing; OSF Home Care Services, an extensive network of home health and hospice services; Pointcore, Inc., which is composed of health care-related businesses; and OSF HealthCare Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the organization. Advances in health care transformation take place through OSF Innovation as well as OSF Ventures, which provides investment capital for promising health care innovation startups. OSF HealthCare has been recognized by Fortune as one of the most innovative companies in the country and by Forbes as one of America’s Best Employers for Healthcare Professionals. Learn more at osfhealthcare.org.
About the American Heart Association’s Hypertension Practice Center Certification
The American Heart Association’s Hypertension Practice Center Certification provides hypertension programs with a framework to ensure best practices and evidence-based medicine are implemented in a standardized way to support consistent hypertension care. For more information about this certification, visit www.heart.org/certification.