What AHA Heart Failure Certification Means for Skilled Nursing Patients
Heart failure patients often require specialized support after a hospital stay. Choosing a skilled nursing center with established cardiac care practices can help patients and families feel more confident as they navigate recovery.
Marquis Health Consulting Services is proud to support skilled nursing centers that have earned Heart Failure Certification from the American Heart Association. This certification recognizes a center’s commitment to providing evidence-based heart failure care, promoting effective coordination and continually improving patient outcomes.
At a Glance
- Evidence-based care: Certified centers follow current American Heart Association guidelines for heart failure care.
- Coordinated support: Care coordination spans pre-admission, treatment at the skilled nursing center and discharge planning.
- Independent evaluation: Certification is based on professional criteria developed by heart failure and skilled nursing experts.
- Patient confidence: Certification helps patients and families identify centers committed to established standards of cardiac care.
What Is the American Heart Association’s Heart Failure Certification?
The American Heart Association’s Skilled Nursing Facility Heart Failure Certification provides a framework for evaluating heart failure programs within skilled nursing centers.
Certification recognizes centers that demonstrate adherence to evidence-based guidelines and meet established requirements related to heart failure care. The evaluation considers several components of a center’s program, including clinical management, staff education, care coordination, patient and caregiver support, and ongoing quality improvement.
For patients and families, certification offers additional assurance that a skilled nursing center’s heart failure program has been evaluated using professional criteria developed by experts in heart health and skilled nursing care.
What Are the Benefits for Patients and Families?
Heart failure care frequently extends across multiple healthcare settings. A patient may transition from a hospital to a skilled nursing center before returning home or moving to another level of care. Clear communication and consistent care practices can be especially important throughout these transitions.
Choosing an AHA-certified skilled nursing center can provide patients and families with:
- Confidence that the center follows current evidence-based heart failure guidelines
- Assurance that its program has undergone professional evaluation
- Access to staff educated in monitoring and managing heart failure
- Support and education for both patients and caregivers
- Coordinated care from pre-admission through discharge
- A program focused on measuring performance and improving outcomes over time
Certification does not guarantee a particular medical outcome. It does, however, demonstrate that a center has made a formal commitment to recognized standards for heart failure care.
What Must a Skilled Nursing Center Demonstrate?
To earn certification, a skilled nursing center must demonstrate that its heart failure program uses a standardized approach based on current American Heart Association guidelines.
The program must also maintain processes related to:
- Program management and oversight
- Staff education and training
- Patient and caregiver education
- Coordination across different stages and settings of care
- Clinical management of patients with heart failure
- Performance measurement and quality improvement
These requirements are intended to support consistent practices and help centers evaluate and strengthen the care they provide.
Does Every Skilled Nursing Center Need This Certification to Provide Cardiac Care?
No. Skilled nursing centers are not required to obtain American Heart Association certification before providing cardiac care.
Some communities supported by Marquis have voluntarily pursued certification to demonstrate their commitment to evidence-based heart failure care and established quality standards. The designation can help patients, families and referral partners identify centers that have completed the American Heart Association’s evaluation process.
Find an AHA-Certified Community
Explore the AHA-certified skilled nursing communities supported by Marquis Health Consulting Services and get in contact to learn more about their cardiac care programs.
