Missouri Baptist Medical Center announces that it has received the highest level of Chest Pain Center Accreditation from the Society of Chest Pain Centers, an international organization dedicated to eliminating heart disease as the number one cause of death worldwide. Annually, 600,000 Americans die of heart disease and more than 5 million visit hospitals each year with chest pain. The goal of the Society of Chest Pain Centers is to significantly reduce the mortality rate of these patients by teaching people to recognize and react to early symptoms of a heart attack, reduce the time that it takes to receive treatment, and increase the effectiveness of treatment.
“We chose the Society of Chest Pain Centers accreditation model because it was interdisciplinary and reached beyond the hospital,” explained Linda Stronach, MD, cardiologist, Missouri Baptist Medical Center. “The full assessment of our cardiac programs revealed new opportunities to further improve cardiac patient care and provide even more education to our communities. For example, from the time a patient experiencing acute coronary symptoms reaches our Emergency Department doors, we’re averaging 67 minutes to reopen the patient’s artery in our cardiac cath lab. This is significantly less than the American Heart Association’s
90-minute goal. Thanks to the assessment, we believe we can shave an additional 10 to 20 minutes off the process through quicker activation of our emergency medical services partnerships – a real win for patient outcomes.”
One such opportunity is to further reduce “door-to-balloon” time in heart attack cases (time from arrival at Missouri Baptist’s ER to reopening of the coronary artery with balloon angioplasty). In a new program, Missouri Baptist is working with ambulance paramedics to activate its cardiac cath lab from the field. The patient is literally waved through Missouri Baptist’s ER to the waiting cath lab team, who being treatment as soon as the patient arrives.
“Before this new program, Missouri Baptist was averaging 60.5 minutes “door-to-balloon,” which is significantly less than the American Heart Association’s 90-minute goal,” said Stronach. “Thanks to the assessment, we believe we can shave an additional 10 to 20 minutes off the process through quicker activation of our Emergency Medical Services partnerships -- a real win for patient outcomes.”
“We continually improve all of our processes, that’s why we’re rated the number one heart hospital in Missouri for the last two years,” said Jennifer Frances, BSN, manager of the cardiac cath labs at Missouri Baptist. “The accreditation review also validated many innovations we’ve made to benefit patient care. For instance, we are one of the few Emergency Departments in the region with physicians in triage and paramedics at the front desk. A patient’s condition is more quickly assessed when highly trained staff are the first to see them.”
To become an Accredited Chest Pain Center, Missouri Baptist engaged in rigorous evaluation by the Society of Chest Pain Centers for its ability to assess, diagnose, and treat patients who may be experiencing a heart attack. To the community served by Missouri Baptist, this means that processes are in place that meet strict criteria aimed at:
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Integrating the Emergency Department with local emergency medical systems
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Assessing, diagnosing, and treating patients quickly
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Treating patients more effectively with low risk for acute coronary syndrome and no assignable cause for their symptoms
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Seeking to improve processes and patient procedures continually
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Ensuring the competence and training of Accredited Chest Pain Center personnel
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Maintaining organizational structure and commitment
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Having a functional facility design that promotes optimal patient care
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Supporting community outreach programs that educate the public to promptly seek medical care if they display symptoms of a possible heart attack
As a result of a study recently issued by HealthGrades, a leading independent healthcare ratings organization, Missouri Baptist Medical Center was named the #1 Hospital in Missouri for Cardiac Services in both 2009 and 2010. HealthGrades study reported that MoBap is the only hospital in Missouri ranked in top 5 percent in the nation for cardiac care and the leading hospital in the state.