Working across health care disciplines, departments and facilities is essential for system-wide success in cardiovascular quality improvement (QI), and Elizabeth A. Maiorana, MBA, MSN, RN, vice president for the cardiovascular service line at Hackensack Meridian Health (HMH) Network in New Jersey, has spent her career coordinating care teams to achieve this vision.
Under her leadership, eight HMH sites have earned multiple accreditations from ACC Accreditation Services – seven achieving HeartCARE Center designation. From meeting national benchmarks for door-to-balloon times to protecting cath lab staff from radiation exposure, accreditation efforts supported by NCDR data have led to measurable improvements in patient care, clinician safety and the organization’s outcomes.
“It’s critical to be able to demonstrate the value and worth of what we’re doing,” says Maiorana. “Right now, everyone is focused on readmissions, length of stay, discharge to home and when to implement evidence-based best practices.”
At its core, ACC Accreditation Services brings together health care professionals across disciplines to identify gaps, promote efficiency and advance guideline-driven care.
“Cardiology, emergency medicine, hospital medicine, administration and nursing all come together to formulate these tools to lead accreditation,” says ACC Accreditation Oversight Committee Chair Steven B. Deitelzweig, MD, MMM, FACC. “Whether that’s in the cath lab or congestive heart failure or chest pain, it’s a deliverable product that really pays dividends.”
An Accreditation Game Changer
This year marks 10 years since the ACC and Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care (SCPC) joined forces to establish ACC Accreditation Services, combining SCPC’s accreditation expertise with the ACC’s registries, quality initiatives and educational resources.
“The accreditation process has really grown and evolved from the time SCPC was running the process,” says Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, MPH, MBA, FACC, chair of the ACC Accreditation Services Nominating Committee. “We are now in more hospitals, we’ve expanded the scope of what accreditation can offer, and we’ve expanded collaborations with other organizations such as MedAxiom and NCDR, providing a menu of services from which to choose for different hospitals and health care systems.”
Maiorana describes the merger as a “game changer,” aligning accreditation requirements with the latest standards for data collection and care delivery from the national societies.
With metric benchmarks and accreditation best practices coming from the College, Maiorana says there is enhanced credibility behind her team’s QI initiatives – especially among physicians.
“As the standards change from our national society, so do the guidelines related to what’s happening in our accreditations, and that is now consistent with what our physician providers need to achieve,” she says.
This alignment ensures everyone understands the actions required to achieve high-quality patient care, a goal the ACC and its accredited facilities continue to aspire toward.
“Over the past decade, our accreditation programs have helped hospitals identify opportunities for improvement and forge a path forward, moving us closer to our ultimate goal of a world where science, knowledge and innovation optimize patient care,” says ACC CEO Cathleen C. Gates.
APNs as “The Glue”
Maiorana considers advanced practice nurses (APNs) as key to accreditation success. “The APN is the glue that unifies the multidisciplinary team, breaking down silos and fostering a culture of high reliability,” she says.
In their hybrid clinical and administrative roles, APNs connect with clinical teams, quality and data teams, hospital leadership and administrative departments, creating a unified system.
With her model, APNs support care across all the academic hubs, procedural centers and community hospitals in the HMH system, reporting directly to executive cardiovascular leadership. This structure allows for faster decision-making, system-wide influence and greater accountability.
They also have a real-time clinical impact, reviewing patient cases daily to ensure evidence-based care before discharge. Their work at the bedside prevents downstream quality issues and improves care outcomes.
Collaboration Leads to Excellence
According to Maiorana, her APNs “share absolutely everything during the accreditation process,” collaborating at the system level to elevate performance across campuses. This partnership involves multiple internal stakeholders, including physician champions and their in-house registry team led by Jeanne Jacobus, MSN, RN, and extends beyond HMH to include NCDR registry staff and ACC Accreditation Review Specialists.
“Our success is a direct result of their collaboration with us, their spirit and their dedication to every single team member and our executive leadership services line right down to the front lines,” says Jennifer A. Heck-Kanellidis, DNP, APN, a cardiovascular transformational care nurse practitioner at HMH.
HMH’s wealth of quality knowledge helps newer additions to the system reach their full potential in providing quality care. Maiorana and Heck-Kanellidis played key roles in supporting the cath lab at their newer Raritan Bay campus through the accreditation process.
“It goes beyond just sharing information,” Maiorana says. “You really become almost like a proctor to help them. You’re involved in those meetings until they get on their own feet to have their own multidisciplinary team meetings.”
After establishing that structure and sharing best practices, she notes how rewarding it is to watch these programs grow. Each campus contributes insights back into the system, strengthening the organization’s overall performance.
“You have to understand the culture of every one of the facilities within your network because they are unique and different, but it’s also important they work together,” says Maiorana.
System-Wide Data, Actionable Insights
Reliable, comprehensive data, paired with processes that turn insights into action, will define the future of cardiovascular care. Learn how NCDR eReports Health Systems can help prioritize quality with system-wide data.
Save the Date: ACC Quality Summit 2026
For more on leveraging tools and leadership to improve patient care, join us at ACC Quality Summit 2026, happening Sept. 16-18 in Orlando, FL. Learn more and get notified when registration opens.
Keywords:
Cardiology Magazine, ACC Publications, CM-Apr-2026, Quality Improvement, Registries, Accreditation, ACC Accreditation, Accreditation Services