The Joint Commission's disease-specific care certification for destination therapy ventricular assist devices.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that all hospitals implanting ventricular assist devices are required to have certification from the The Joint Commission for disease-specific care destination therapy with a ventricular assist device effective March 27, 2009, in order to receive Medicare reimbursement for services rendered to patients who have devices implanted for destination therapy. On February 23, 2007, The Joint Commission released the certification requirements for ventricular assist devices implanted for destination therapy in an 8-page document so that hospitals could prepare to meet the 2009 certification deadline. The Artificial Heart Program of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center undertook a multidisciplinary project, under the guidance of the nurse coordinator, to prepare the hospital and program for a precertification survey by The Joint Commission for disease-specific destination therapy ventricular assist device certification. The Presbyterian Hospital Artificial Heart Program was awarded The Joint Commission's device-specific certification for destination therapy with ventricular assist devices in June 2008.

Intensive telephone follow-up to a hospital-based disease management model for patients with diabetes mellitus.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the value of an intensive telephone follow-up as an additional component of a diabetes disease management program already shown to be effective in improving glycemic control, adherence with American Diabetes Association (ADA) standards of care, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The study involved a randomized controlled trial. The intervention group received a series of 12 weekly phone calls reinforcing base education and self-management skills. Five hundred and seven consenting patients, age 18 years or older, with type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus referred to the hospital- based disease management program who had telephones and were able to complete surveys in English or Spanish were enrolled. Outcomes were evaluated at 3 and 12 months follow- up. Adherence to ADA standards of care, specifically annual eye exams, physician foot exams, foot self-exams, and pneumonia vaccination were significantly better with the added telephone intervention, but there were no differences between the groups on glycemic control, HRQOL, or patient satisfaction. The effectiveness of the disease management program was replicated with sustained improvement in glycemic control, HRQOL, and adherence to ADA standards. The additional telephone intervention further improved adherence to ADA guidelines for self-care and medical care but did not affect glycemic control or HRQOL.