PHA’s PHCC Program: A Common Vision for Quality Care Our Financial Commitment To PH Research

The Pulmonary Hypertension Association’s accreditation program and registry are cornerstones of our research and quality patient care strategies.

PHA promotes quality patient care through PHA-accredited PH Care Centers. The PH Care Center network aims to increase access to specialized PH care, enhance health care provider and patient education, secure earlier diagnosis, and improve patient outcomes.

PHA-accredited care centers provide quality care based on the highest accepted standards of care and consensus guidelines. This focus reflects PHA’s mission to extend and improve the lives of those affected by PH.

NEW ERA OF PH CARE

In late 2022, PHA and the Pulmonary Hypertension Care Centers Inc. boards voted to integrate the two organizations. The move combines and enhances the strengths of both organizations to benefit PH patients and health care professionals.

The merger also is expected to improve efficiency and increase opportunities for collaboration.

PHA and PHCC have worked together with a common vision since 2014 when PHA invited medical centers that treat PH to apply to become PHAaccredited PH Care Centers. PHA will continue to invest fully in the accreditation and registry programs as it has in the past.

Combining our strengths will bring added benefits to PH Care Centers.

From a practical point of view, nothing changes operationally for the accredited centers and those participating in the PHA Registry. Specifically, the care centers will continue to receive the same level of quality and personalized service from PHA staff and the University of Washington’s Data Coordinating Center. Accreditation cycles, reviews and criteria within PHCC remain the same.

As part of our commitment to quality patient care, PHA focused on expanding our accreditation program to geographic regions where patients don’t have easy access to accredited PH Care Centers.

By the end of 2022, PHA had received and was evaluating 13 new accreditation applications.

To be accredited, medical centers are reviewed to ensure they have the resources necessary to treat all forms of pulmonary hypertension. Those resources include a cohesive medical team, verification that diagnoses are made correctly and appropriate treatment started, and explicit institutional support for the PH program.

PHA REGISTRY

The PHA Registry measures quality patient care and outcomes to support PHCC reaccreditation, provides care improvement initiatives and fosters PH research. Over time, the registry has grown from five pilot sites to 68 in 2022. More than 2,000 patients were enrolled in the registry in 2022.

In 2022, researchers initiated more than 30 new research studies and published six peer-reviewed research papers based on registry data.