PFF Care Center Network Expands with 12 New Accreditations

The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (PFF), a trusted resource for the pulmonary fibrosis (PF) community committed to raising awareness, providing disease education, and funding research for this debilitating disease, has just announced it has accredited a dozen new PFF Care Centers, bringing the total number of centers under the network to 21 across 20 states. The PFF Care Center Network was first created in 2013, and has stringently evaluated and brought recognition to the best medical institutions PF patients can turn to for comprehensive, up-to-date diagnostics and medical care.

The 12 institutions newly certified as PFF Care Center Network sites are as follows:

• Inova Fairfax Medical Campus
• Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
• Medical University of South Carolina
• New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center
• Piedmont Healthcare
• The University of Arizona Interstitial Lung Disease Program at the University of Arizona Medical Center-University Campus in Tucson
• The University of Kansas Hospital
• Tulane University School of Medicine
• University of Alabama at Birmingham
• University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
• University of Pennsylvania
• Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

PF refers to a serious group of lung affectations characterized by function-reducing lung scarring. Its idiopathic form is the most difficult to diagnose and treat, with the average survival rate being less than 5 years post-diagnosis. Many patients hope for a life-saving lung transplant, but most on the waiting list die of respiratory failure.

“As the leading advocate for the pulmonary fibrosis community, we are dedicated to advancing the care of people living with this deadly disease, and this starts with providing greater access to experienced care teams,” said Gregory P. Cosgrove, M.D., chief medical officer of the PFF. “Working together, institutions within the Network will identify and share best practices, which foster better care and ultimately enable more institutions that embrace these practices to be certified as a PFF Care Center site.”

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Before a medical center is added to the PFF’s roster care centers, a panel of some of the most influential people in the PF community carefully goes through all the applications sent in and scores them. The panel is comprised of active members of the PFF Board of Directors, Medical Advisory Board, PFF Care Center Network and PFF Patient Registry Steering Committee.

“When selecting sites to add to the PFF Care Center Network, we consider a center’s specific programs and its geographic location in order to best serve the needs of the broader pulmonary fibrosis community,” said Kevin Flaherty, M.D., M.S., chairman of the Steering Committee of the PFF Care Center Network. “The new centers selected provide the highest quality patient care and an individualized approach to treatment in accordance with best evidence-based recommendations. We welcome these new centers and look forward to continuing to expand the Network in the coming year.”

What results from the PFF’s evaluation is a line up of model PF care centers determined to be able to provide a multidisciplinary approach to intensive patient care, access to a seasoned team of clinical experts in interstitial lung disease, rheumatology, radiology and pathology, accurate diagnoses, and essential patient support services.