Banner Thunderbird earns Echocardiography Lab accreditation
GLENDALE, Ariz. (Feb. 25, 2009) – Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. but information provided by quality echocardiographs can help detect and manage many types of heart disease – often saving lives.
Now during National Heart Health month, Banner Thunderbird has become one of the first one thousand Echocardiography Laboratories in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico to earn accreditation from the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories (ICAEL). Banner Thunderbird’s Senior Clinical Manager for Cardiology Diane Seidl said accreditation strongly focuses on education and increasing the quality of care provided to patients.
“Preparing to submit for this accreditation was a substantial undertaking and we are very proud to be recognized by this agency for providing quality echocardiography,” Seidl said. “This is an example of Banner Thunderbird’s commitment to providing the highest quality patient care.”
Banner Thunderbird is a busy community hospital with an equally busy echocardiography lab. Last year nearly 8,000 echocardiographs, including pediatric and stress echoes echocardiographs, were completed. The process to earn the ICAEL accreditation took well over a year and included education of physicians and staff and the implementation of protocols and uniformed reporting.
“Our physicians and our staff accomplished the necessary criteria, including education, and quality process requirements, to make it possible for us to earn this recognition,” Seidl said. “We thank each of them for their commitment to this process and to the thousands of patients we see each year.”
ICAEL was established with the support of the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE), the American College of Cardiology (ACC), and the Society of Pediatric Echocardiography (SOPE) to provide a peer review mechanism to encourage and recognize the provision of quality echocardiographic diagnostic evaluations by a process of voluntary accreditation.
About Banner Thunderbird Medical Center
Banner Thunderbird Medical Center, part of Banner Health—a nonprofit health system with 22 hospitals throughout the West—is a 409-bed acute-care hospital featuring a behavioral health center, children’s center and dedicated outpatient center.
