• Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Earns Center of Excellence Status
• UI Pediatric Echocardiography Laboratory Granted Reaccreditation

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Earns Center of Excellence Status

Leaders with University of Iowa Children's Hospital within University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics announced that Iowa's only comprehensive academic health center has received designation as a member of the United Resource Network's Neonatal Centers of Excellence network, reflecting national recognition of the neonatology care it provides.

"We are honored to receive this designation, which offers further evidence of the high standard of care we deliver every day," said Donna Katen-Bahensky, director and CEO of UI Hospitals and Clinics. "We are very pleased to have met the exacting standards required for inclusion in the nation's leading neonatal network."

United Resource Networks' Neonatal Centers of Excellence networks were developed to support safe, successful and cost-effective care and treatment of patients in need of neonatal care. United Resource Networks (URN) is a business of UnitedHealth Group.

"This is yet another confirmation for the families of patients who require neonatal care that they are being treated by the nation's experts," said Michael Artman, MD, physician-in-chief at University of Iowa Children's Hospital and UI professor and head of pediatrics. "Our faculty and staff provide unsurpassed care for these tiny patients and their families, and all Iowans can be proud of their skill, dedication and compassion."

Criteria for selecting Centers of Excellence network programs were developed in conjunction with the URN Clinical Sciences Institute.

"The Centers of Excellence network program evaluates and recognizes specific hospital, program and surgeon capabilities," Artman said. "These capabilities include quality processes, adherence to evidence-based approaches, compliance with nationally recognized guidelines published by clinical societies and their broad capabilities in the continually evolving field of organ and tissue transplantation."

The Centers of Excellence network criteria include:

• Procedural volume and associated outcomes
• Stability of the team and the ability of the back-up team to manage the program
• Projected trends and technological advances in the specific field of medical science
• Overall commitment to its field through the synergy of related programs within the medical center

"Consistently measuring up to each of these standards requires a fundamental commitment to excellence in neonatology as well as to outstanding delivery of service to patients," Artman said.

UI Pediatric Echocardiography Laboratory Granted Reaccreditation

The Pediatric Echocardiography Laboratory of University of Iowa Children's Hospital within University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City was granted reaccreditation by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories (ICAEL).

Michelle Disterhoft, technical director/supervisor for the Pediatric Echocardiography Laboratory, led the efforts to gain reaccreditation. "Our national accreditation demonstrates an ongoing long-term commitment and dedication to achieving the highest standards for quality patient care," she said.

The ICAEL was established to provide a peer-review mechanism that encourages and recognizes the provision of quality echocardiographic evaluations. Participation in the accreditation process is voluntary. Accreditation status signifies that the facility has been reviewed by an independent agency that recognizes the laboratories commitment to quality testing for the diagnosis of heart disease.

Benjamin Reinking, MD, a specialist in the pediatric cardiology division at University of Iowa Children's Hospital and UI clinical assistant professor of pediatrics, said, "We are the only center in Iowa, and one of only three in the Midwest, to be accredited in all three pediatric modalities: pediatric transthoracic, transesophageal, and fetal echocardiography."

For more information:

University of Iowa Children's Hospital

Michael Artman, MD

Benjamin Reinking, MD

United Resource Network

Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories (ICAEL)