Accreditation Recognizes World-Class Efforts of the Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic
The Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic at Cincinnati Children’s was recently recognized for providing outstanding care to children and teens affected by pulmonary hypertension. In July 2017, the clinic was accredited as a Center of Comprehensive Care by the Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA).
The PHA designates Centers of Comprehensive Care to pulmonary hypertension centers that evaluate patients based on published evidence-based guidelines, provide expert treatment of patients using FDA-approved therapies, and make important contributions to pulmonary hypertension research and education. The Cincinnati Children’s clinic is part of the medical center’s Heart Institute and is one of only eight pediatric pulmonary hypertension programs in the United States to become accredited.
“We are very proud of the fact that we were accredited and that our team is recognized for performing at the highest level,” says Russel Hirsch, MD, director of the clinic. “This accreditation underscores our cutting-edge services. We are at the forefront of what we do.”
The Goal: To Improve Care
The PHA’s goal behind creating this accreditation is to improve the quality of care and outcomes for patients with pulmonary hypertension. According to the PHA, despite the available medical therapies, long-term outcomes are not optimal, as many patients still die from pulmonary hypertension, require transplantation or require hospitalization. Patients now have a trusted resource in the PHA to use when seeking care.
Hirsch is also director of the Heart Institute’s Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and performs most cardiac catheterizations in pulmonary hypertension patients. His team cares for patients from birth to age 19 and provides both inpatient and outpatient consultation and follow-up. They have particular interest in infants with congenital diaphragmatic hernias with resulting pulmonary hypertension.
The clinic offers all forms of medical therapy and current surgical interventions as well as treatment for severe pulmonary hypertension unresponsive to medical therapies. Patients have come from more than 30 states to receive care at the Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic. The number of patients cared for has increased by more than eightfold over the past decade.
Important Collaborations
The team works closely with other disciplines at Cincinnati Children’s to bring the best care possible to patients whose disease process may be complicated by pulmonary hypertension. This includes partnering with those in the fields of newborn medicine, pulmonary medicine, gastroenterology, sickle cell, rheumatology and hemangioma/vascular malformation, among others.
“We have incredible resources here that we rely on,” Hirsch says. “Part of our strength comes from the fact that we are fully supported by the expertise within the Heart Institute. In addition, we collaborate regularly with other specialists throughout the medical center.”
That collaborative care results in the outstanding outcomes the Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic has been recognized for with this accreditation.
