PHA Adds Four Newly Accredited Centers of Comprehensive Care to its Network

After demonstrating an ability to deliver top-shelf care to patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH), four sites have been added to the Pulmonary Hypertension Association’s (PHA) network of Centers of Comprehensive Care (CCC).

The newly accredited centers are the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, Tufts Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, and National Jewish Health in Denver, Colorado.

The six-year-old accreditation program — part of PHA’s Pulmonary Hypertension Care Centers (PHCC) initiative — now has 80 medical centers in 32 states, including 59 adult and eight pediatric CCCs, plus 13 adult regional clinical programs (RCPs). RCPs are care providers qualified to diagnose PH and initiate first-line treatment, sometimes in collaboration with CCCs.

“We are thrilled to see the PHCC network continue to grow,” Elizabeth Joseloff, PhD, PHA vice president, quality care & Research, said in a press release. “This program is an important step toward providing quality care for PH patients and offering scientists and clinicians opportunities to advance clinical research.”

The goal of the PHCC initiative is to assure outstanding care in the PH field based on consensus guidelines.

PHA-accredited sites are eligible for participation in the PHA registry (PHAR), which collects data on PH patients (pulmonary arterial hypertension, pediatric PH due to developmental lung disease, and chronic thromboembolic PH) diagnosed and evaluated at the centers. Registry data is used to assess patient outcomes, and help scientists and health professionals better understand the disease, which could lead to new therapies and enhanced quality of care.

PHCC accreditation criteria are based on key measures of care, including the program’s overall commitment to patients, scope of services provided, and care teams’ expertise. The goal is to provide better information to patients and medical professionals, improve access to centers that have PH expertise, improve PH diagnosis and care, and increase opportunities for research and clinical collaboration.

According to the PHA, PH is estimated to affect about 25 million individuals worldwide. PHA’s ultimate goal is to extend and improve the lives of those affected by the disease.

“Each form of PH is different, so it is important for newly-diagnosed patients to find a PH specialist who can accurately find what is causing their PH, and develop a treatment plan that is right for that specific type of PH as soon as possible,” PHA says on its website. “Once in the care of a PH-treating healthcare team and on appropriate therapy, people with PH can live many years.”