East Cooper Awarded Certification in Inpatient Diabetes Care

Mount Pleasant, SC - May 28, 2015 - East Cooper Medical Center has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval™ for its inpatient diabetes care program for the sixth consecutive year by demonstrating compliance with The Joint Commission’s national standards for health care quality and safety in disease-specific care. The certification award recognizes East Cooper Medical Center’s dedication to continuous compliance with The Joint Commission’s state-of-the-art standards.

East Cooper Medical Center underwent a rigorous on-site review last month. A team of Joint Commission expert reviewers evaluated East Cooper Medical Center for compliance with the requirements for The Joint Commission’s Disease-Specific Care Certification program as well as inpatient diabetes care-specific standards, clinical practice guidelines and performance measures. The inpatient diabetes certification program is based on the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Clinical Practice Recommendations.

"In achieving Joint Commission advanced certification, East Cooper Medical Center has demonstrated its commitment to the highest level of care for its patients with diabetes,” says Michele Sacco, M.S., interim executive director, Certification Programs. “Certification is a voluntary process and I commend East Cooper Medical Center for successfully undertaking this challenge to elevate its standard of care and instill confidence in the community it serves.” "With Joint Commission advanced recertification, we continue to make a significant investment in the quality of care we provide to our patients with diabetes.

Joint Commission advanced certification provides us with a framework for creating a culture of excellence, and we are proud to have received and retained 8 Gold Seals of Approval” says Jason Alexander, CEO of East Cooper Medical Center. “Achieving Joint Commission advanced recertification in inpatient diabetes care, for our organization, is a major step toward maintaining excellence and continually improving the care we provide.”

The Joint Commission's Advanced Certification for Inpatient Diabetes Care, developed in conjunction with the ADA, provides standards related to:

• Staff education requirements,
• Written blood glucose monitoring protocols,
• Plans for the treatment of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia,
• Data collection of incidences of hypoglycemia,
• Patient education on self-management of diabetes, and
• An identified program champion or program champion team.
  
  

Founded in 1951, The Joint Commission seeks to continuously improve health care for the public, in collaboration with other stakeholders, by evaluating health care organizations and inspiring them to excel in providing safe and effective care of the highest quality and value. The Joint Commission accredits and certifies more than 20,500 health care organizations and programs in the United States, including hospitals and health care organizations that provide ambulatory and office-based surgery, behavioral health, home care, laboratory and nursing home services. An independent, not-for-profit organization, The Joint Commission is the nation’s oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. The Joint Commission has two nonprofit affiliate organizations: The Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare aims to solve health care’s most critical safety and quality problems and Joint Commission Resources (JCR) provides consulting services, educational services and publications. Joint Commission International, a division of JCR, accredits and certifies international health care organizations. Learn more about The Joint Commission at www.jointcommission.org.

East Cooper Medical Center, part of Tenet Healthcare, is a 130-bed acute care hospital located at 2000 Hospital Drive in Mount Pleasant. East Cooper Medical Center has been providing healthcare to the East Cooper community since 1986. We provide a number of services including 24-hour emergency care, women’s services, diagnostic imaging and interventional services, orthopedics, sports medicine, pain care, adult and pediatric rehabilitation services, wound care services and surgical care, including nationally recognized spine surgery and breast reconstruction surgery. East Cooper Medical Center is accredited by The Joint Commission, the nation’s oldest and largest hospital accreditation agency.