Community Update

Sinai Hospital of Baltimore Receives National Accreditation
for Excellence in Echocardiography

Sinai Hospital of Baltimore has earned a three year echocardiography accreditation
in the area of adult transthoracic, also known as cardiac ultrasound, from the
Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC). This vital test is part of the comprehensive care provided to patients receiving treatment
in the Division of Cardiology at Sinai.

A
transthoracic echocardiogram is a non-invasive test used to look at different
views of the heart to access how healthy it is. This type of early detection is
crucial to identify heart disorders and other diseases before they become life
threatening.

Only
facilities, like Sinai, that meet strict national standards and provide high
quality treatment receive recognition from the IAC. The organization makes its
decision after a thorough evaluation of each hospital’s operational and
technical components. Among the criteria considered are the skills of the
sonographers performing the examinations, the type of equipment used, the
doctors’ knowledge when interpreting the test results and the quality assurance
measures that the hospital has in place.

Heart
disease is the number one cause of death in the United States. On average, one
American dies every 39 seconds of cardiovascular disease. The American Heart Association
estimates that the direct and indirect costs related to heart disease in the
U.S. in 2010 were more than 500-billion dollars.