Accreditation of centres by the European Association of Preventive Cardiology (EAPC)

About the programme

This programme falls under the EAPC Education and Accreditation Committee's activities and is eligible for centres within ESC Member Countries and ESC Affiliated Countries.

Objectives

• Promote and monitor the quality of CV preventive care in a uniform manner
• Provide confidence in the quality of CV preventive care to patients and their caretakers
• Provide benchmarks for the quality of infrastructure, equipment/facilities, staff, and care

Topics

The accreditation system covers three subgroups:

• Secondary prevention / cardiac rehabilitation
• Sports cardiology
• Risk management and prevention

Accreditation is granted for a period of three years.

Who can apply?

• Centre/department/outpatient clinic (public or privately run) providing cardiovascular risk prevention in an ESC member country or ESC Affiliated Cardiac Society country.

Other criteria

• Must have been in operation for a minimum of two years.
• Must have at least one current staff member who is an EAPC Silver Member.
• Applications shall be submitted online.
• Documents, letters, and applications must be submitted in English. 

Read the FAQs and sample indicators for more information. 

Benefits

• Benchmark and recognition of the quality of infrastructure, equipment/facilities, staff, and care.
• Provision of the certificate, accreditation plaque and media kit (press release, sample messages for social media).
• One free registration for the EAPC annual congress - ESC Preventive Cardiology.
• Visibility via inclusion on the accredited centre list, and in the preventive cardiology bulletins.
• Invitation to post a testimonial and photo on the EAPC Facebook and LinkedIn groups.
• Networking event for accredited centre representatives at ESC Preventive Cardiology / ESC Congress.

Review process

The applications will be reviewed based on pre-defined criteria for each subgroup. Each list has a number of priority criteria (minimum requirements) and a number of standard criteria. The criteria are based on recent literature and have undergone a face validity check.

The evaluation of centres will be made on:

• Qualifications and training record of staff
• Organisation of care
• Infrastructure and equipment

Each application will be evaluated by two EAPC reviewers and will be sent to the reviewing chairperson in case of conflicts.

Applications can either be accepted, declined or marked eligible for the resubmission within six months, with indications of required improvements.

Re-accreditation

The accreditation is valid for 3 years after which centres must apply for re-accreditation to keep their accreditation valid. 

Re-accreditation process

Centres must apply for re-accreditation from six months before to three months after the current accreditation expiration date.

During this time, centres eligible for re-accreditation will receive automatic reminders to apply for re-accreditation. These reminders will be sent to the contact person of the accredited centre. 

All centres will be reminded as the deadline approaches, but it is the centre's responsibility to ensure that the re-accreditation is submitted on time. No late submissions will be accepted and, if the deadline is not respected, the centre will have to re-apply for accreditation and restart the process from the beginning. 

Re-accreditation applications will follow the same review process as for their initial accreditation. 

If all requirements of re-accreditation are met, a certificate will be issued which will be valid for a further 3-year period.

Accreditation fees

Administrative fee

Administrative fee (payable upon submission of accreditation only and non-refundable):

• €300 (excluding VAT)

There is no administrative fee for re-accreditation.

Accreditation and re-accreditation fees

The same fees apply for accreditation and re-accreditation. The fee depends on the number of categories for which your centre wants to be accredited for. 

• For a single category: €5,700 (excluding VAT)
• For a second category: +€4,200 (excluding VAT) - Total amount: €9,900
• For a third category: +€2,400 (excluding VAT) - Total amount: €12,300

Payment must be done in full upon confirmation of accreditation or re-accreditation. The payment covers the 3 years of accreditation. 

Apply

EAPC Accredited Centres

We are pleased to share the list of centres already accredited: