Accreditation

Enhanced Respiratory Care Accreditation ​

Wes Ely Quote - Enhanced Respiratory Care

The Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety Enhanced Respiratory Care Accreditation is the benchmark standard of care for the management of patients with mechanical ventilation. This standard was set by the Enhanced Respiratory Care Standards Committee:

  • Thomas M. Fuhrman, MD, MMSc, FCCP Chief of Anesthesia, Bay Pines Veterans Affairs Healthcare System – Tampa Bay, Florida
  • Clyde Heflin MD, FACCP – Pulmonologist – Nashville, Tennessee.
  • Pam Clayton RN, LNHA – VP Quality, Regulatory Affairs at GA Health Care Association
  • Carrie Ermshar MBA, LNHA – Senior Care Executive Consultant, Houston, Texas
  • William Beal RRT, Massachusetts Board of Respiratory Care – Norwell, Massachusetts
  • Lisa Zaenger RRT, VP of Staffing at PEL/VIP – Oak Lawn, Illinois
  • Zachary Gantt RRT, FAARC, President and CEO Encore HealthCare – Livingston, Tennessee

To read the Standards of Accreditation for Long-Term Ventilator Facilities, please click here.

Enhanced Respiratory Care - Tom Fuhrman quote

Enhanced Respiratory Care Accreditation benefits your healthcare facility by:

  • Improve patient safety and the quality of patient care

Patients and their families want the best standard of patient care. Enhanced Respiratory Care Accreditation provides you with that mark of distinction which you can display to the public on your website, press releases, brochures, and other marketing materials. 

  • Improving outcomes

Enhanced Respiratory Care Accreditation provides benchmarks for measuring how an organization is performing compared to a national standard of care and against competitors.

  • Enhancing staff education 

The Enhanced Respiratory Care Accreditation process is designed to be educational. Enhanced Respiratory Care Accreditation process offers suggestions for approaches and strategies that may help your organization better meet the intent of the standards and, more importantly, improve the performance of day-to-day operations.

  • Improving liability insurance coverage

Improving patient safety and the quality of patient care reduces your liability exposure. Moreover, by enhancing risk management efforts, Enhanced Respiratory Care Accreditation may improve access to, or reduce the cost of liability insurance coverage.

  • Reimbursement recognition

Many healthcare facilities that have implemented the Enhanced Respiratory Care program have received increased reimbursement from healthcare payers.

  • Giving you a competitive advantage

Achieving Enhanced Respiratory Care Accreditation is a visible demonstration to patients and the community that your organization is committed to providing the highest quality services. It also sets you apart from other healthcare facilities offering the same types of procedures.

Eligibility

All healthcare facilities that care for patients with mechanical ventilation are eligible to apply for Enhanced Respiratory Care Accreditation (whether located in the US or outside of the US). 

Enhanced Respiratory Care Accreditation Process​

The Enhanced Respiratory Care accreditation process is similar in process and costs to other healthcare accreditation, and  involves applying for and maintaining accreditation, consisting of the following:

  • Initial application.
  • Annual submission of data.
  • Initial survey and re-survey.
Enhanced Respiratory Care - Lisa Zaenger quote

To apply to become an accredited healthcare facility, please complete this form (please review the Standards of Accreditation for Long-Term Ventilator Facilities before applying):