APCC has been granted a three-year term of accreditation, and as of January 1, 2012 is the only practice in Phoenix with pediatric transthoracic and fetal echocardiography accreditation. In Tucson, APCC is one of only two practices with the accreditation.

Accreditation by the ICAEL means that a practice has undergone a thorough review of its operational and technical components by a panel of experts. The ICAEL grants accreditation only to those facilities that are found to be providing quality patient care, in compliance with national standards through a comprehensive application process including detailed case study review.

?ICAEL accreditation is widely respected within the medical community,? explains Dr. Bryan Sandweiss, APCC pediatric cardiologist and Director of Cardiac MRI and Echocardiography at Phoenix Children?s Hospital. ?APCC?s echocardiography labs are held to the highest standard and undergo rigorous quality assurance evaluations in order to receive the accreditation, which translates into state-of-the-art equipment and high quality care for our patients.?

Each year 35,000 babies (nearly 1 in 100) are born in the United States with some type of congenital heart defect, making it the most common birth defect in newborns. It is also the most critical, as congenital heart defects cause more deaths during the first year of life than any other birth defect.

Among the advanced diagnostic tools available, a noninvasive ultrasound study called an echocardiogram is commonly used to evaluate heart structure and function. The skill of the sonographer performing the examination, the type of equipment used, the background and knowledge of the interpreting physician and quality assurance measures are each critical to quality inpatient testing.

While ICAEL accreditation is voluntary and not required by insurance companies in the state of Arizona, it demonstrates APCC?s ongoing commitment to the highest level of patient care. For more information about ICAEL, visit www.icael.org.

To learn more about APCC including physicians and locations, please visit www.azkidsheart.com.