Vinmec Times City (Hanoi) and Vinmec Central Park (Ho Chi Minh City) have recently been awarded the ACC certification by the American College of Cardiology for heart failure management, delivering outstanding benefits to patients. This milestone positions Vinmec as the first healthcare system in Asia with two hospitals meeting this prestigious standard.
The ACC certification is recognized worldwide as a top standard for the management and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, with rigorous and comprehensive evaluation criteria. After more than a year of implementing standardized and updated heart failure management protocols based on ACC standards, the Cardiology Centers at Vinmec Times City (Hanoi) and Vinmec Central Park (Ho Chi Minh City) have been officially recognized by the ACC review board.
This certification is valid for three years and will undergo re-evaluation to ensure adherence and continuous improvement in treatment quality. It represents a significant step towards realizing Vinmec’s goal of establishing a Center of Excellence (COE) model in cardiology within its healthcare system.
Heart failure is the ultimate consequence of various cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease, cardiomyopathy, congenital heart defects, arrhythmias, and more. If not detected early, treated properly, and closely monitored, heart failure can rapidly worsen, leading to acute heart failure, which may result in death. Studies have shown that without proper treatment, nearly 50% of heart failure patients may die within five years of diagnosis, with this rate being significantly higher than that of many cancers. It is estimated that Vietnam currently has approximately 1.6 million heart failure patients.
Therefore, the heart failure management program at Vinmec is designed as a comprehensive, continuous process, starting from outpatient or emergency consultations, inpatient care, and post-discharge follow-up. Following the latest ACC recommendations, the management process is carried out with specific and strict regulations regarding professional competency, treatment methods and timing, evaluation frequency, and follow-up visits to minimize delays and errors, ensuring the best possible care for patients. To maintain the program's effectiveness, heart failure management requires a specialized unit with a designated responsible person and clearly defined roles for all team members. It also involves quarterly and annual training to ensure that the latest knowledge on heart failure is consistently updated.
"The results after six months of applying the ACC-standard management program at Vinmec Times City Hospital and Vinmec Central Park Hospital have brought about very positive changes for heart failure patients. The essential 'life-saving' indicators have achieved '2 reductions - 1 increase,' including: a reduction in heart failure readmission rates from 18% to nearly 0%, a decrease in average hospital stay from 8 days to just 4 days, while simultaneously improving the quality of life for patients," shared Prof. Dr. Bui Duc Phu, Director of Cardiology, Vinmec Healthcare System.
In addition to focusing on treatment effectiveness, to achieve the ACC certification, Vinmec also continuously implements community screening activities to detect early and prevent potential complications of the disease. Patients are also encouraged to consult with specialists in rehabilitation and nutrition—two critical factors that determine the success of heart failure treatment.
The implementation of international standard models in heart failure management will help cardiovascular patients significantly improve their quality of life, increase life expectancy, and optimize treatment costs, while also reducing the burden on families and society. Comprehensive heart failure management has been proven to not only clearly enhance treatment quality and improve the lives of patients, but also enables hospitals to optimize resources by facilitating faster inpatient bed turnover and accepting more patients.
For more information on Vinmec's cardiovascular treatment packages, click here.
The American College of Cardiology (ACC) is a non-profit international medical organization established in 1949. Currently, ACC has over 56,000 members, including doctors and cardiovascular healthcare professionals from the United States and around the world. It is also the publisher of the *Journal of the American College of Cardiology*, which is ranked among the leading cardiovascular journals globally due to its highly scientific contributions. ACC is a prestigious organization that leads in evaluating and awarding quality certifications to cardiovascular centers that meet strict standards for the treatment and management of heart failure. Currently, only 60 hospitals worldwide hold the ACC certification for heart failure management, with most of them located in the United States. In Asia, Vinmec Times City Hospital and Vinmec Central Park Hospital are the only institutions to receive the ACC certification for quality in heart failure treatment, and they are also the first two general hospitals in Vietnam to achieve JCI certification – the world’s leading accreditation for patient safety and quality. |
Source: Vietnamnet
