Heart Failure Quality Measures
A board-certified physician has completed an approved educational
training program and an evaluation process including an examination designed
to assess the knowledge, skills, and experience necessary to provide quality
patient care in that specialty. A specialty certificate is issued by a medical
specialty certifying board, which is valid nationwide. Although certification
is not required for an individual physician to practice medicine, most hospitals
and managed care organizations require that at least a certain percentage of
their staff be "board certified."Today approximately 89 percent of licensed
physicians are certified by one or more ABMS Member Boards (
American Board of Medical Specialties
).
There are many specialists included in the care of heart
failure, including those in: emergency medicine, thoracic surgery, and internal
medicine. Internal medicine includes sub-specialties of cardiology (both general
and interventional) and electrophysiology. Each of these may be certified by
a member board in their specialty.
Many people who have heart failure are initially treated
by a physician specializing in emergency medicine,
then by a general cardiologist. An interventional
cardiologist (physician specializing in non-surgical procedures such
as the balloon procedure/PTCA) is consulted if appropriate, as is a heart surgeon.
If there are heart rhythm disturbances, then an electrophysiologist
(cardiologist who specializes in the treatment of electrical conduction problems
within the heart) may also be consulted. Critical care
medicine physicians may be responsible for coordinating care in the intensive
or coronary care unit setting if this level of care is needed. Other specialists
may consult for heart failure patients who have additional medical conditions
or situations requiring specialized knowledge and skill.
St. Mary's Hospital Medical Center requires board certification for all physicians in the following medical specialties:
- Emergency Medicine
- General Cardiology
- Interventional Cardiology
- Electrophysiology
- Critical Care Medicine