With 90-day readmissions an increasing area of focus for proposed payment and reimbursement models, there is a need to identify best practices. As part of the ACC's Patient Navigator Program: Focus MI, 15 hospitals are serving as pioneers in this space.

During the first phase of the Patient Navigator Program, which launched in 2013, 35 hospitals around the country worked closely with the ACC to implement interventions aimed at bridging gaps between inpatient and outpatient acute myocardial infarction (AMI) care through 30-days post hospitalization. These lessons learned are now being shared nationally through the newest phase of the program. Additionally, 15 of the original 35 hospitals have chosen to be "Diplomat Hospitals" and will focus on reducing 90-day readmissions for AMI patients, while also providing mentorship for wider adoption of the program across other institutions.

"Since the original Patient Navigator Program launched, hospitals and cardiovascular care team members have led the way in developing effective ways to help manage patients' heart health after they leave the hospital," said ACC Immediate Past President Mary Norine Walsh, MD, MACC, earlier this year. "The 15 Diplomat Hospitals will be building on what we have learned to help hospitals across the country reduce readmission rates while improving patients' long-term outcomes."

The 15 Diplomat Hospitals are:

• Advocate Sherman Hospital, IL
• Aurora BayCare Medical Center, WI
• Barnes Jewish Hospital, MO
• California Pacific Medical Center, CA
• Centra Lynchburg General Hospital, VA
• Indian River Medical Center, FL
• Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital, IN
• Olathe Medical Center, KS
• Scott & White Medical Center-Temple, TX
• St. Vincent's Medical Center, CT
• Trident Medical Center, SC
• UT Southwestern Medical Center, TX
• Western Maryland Regional Medical Center, MD
• Tacoma General Hospital, WA
• WakeMed, NC

To find out more about the program, visit CVQuality.ACC.org/PatientNavigator.

Patient Navigator Program: Focus MI is supported by founding sponsor AstraZeneca.

Keywords: Patient Navigation, Inpatients, Patient Readmission, Outpatients, Hospitalization, Ambulatory Care, Myocardial Infarction, Cardiovascular Diseases, Heart Failure, Patient Care

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