Anderson Hospital Chest Pain Center Accreditation

Mercy Health - Cincinnati, which provides advanced, compassionate, quality care in your neighborhood through its care network, announces that Anderson Hospital has received full Chest Pain Center with Primary PCI Accreditation from the American College of Cardiology (ACC). Anderson Hospital offers PCI, which stands for Percutaneous Coronary Intervention, a non-surgical procedure that uses a catheter to place a stent to open up narrowed blood vessels.

"The chest pain accreditation process helped us define patient care from the broadest possible point of view, taking in everything from community education through to patient discharge. This accreditation illustrates Anderson Hospital’s strong and continuing commitment to excellence in cardiac care," said Mercy Health Physician and Cardiologist Jason Paquin, Medical Director of the Chest Pain Center at Anderson Hospital.

“The accreditation confirms that our team has the right processes in place to care for patients who come to us with chest pain. Minutes matter in heart care and every second we save can have an impact on the future quality of a heart attack patient’s life,” said Jeff Graham, Mercy Health East Market President and CEO. “I thank our talented heart care team for their work. We earned this prestigious accreditation because of their dedication.”

Heart attacks are the leading cause of death in the United States, with 600,000 people dying annually of heart disease. More than five million Americans visit hospitals each year with chest pain. ACC's goal is to significantly reduce the mortality rate of these patients by teaching the public to recognize and react to the early symptoms of a possible heart attack, reduce the time that it takes to receive treatment and increase the accuracy and effectiveness of treatment.

An Accredited Chest Pain Center's (CPC) evidence-based, protocol-driven and systematic approach to cardiac patient care allows clinicians to reduce time to treatment during the critical early stages of a heart attack. Accredited facilities better monitor patients when it is not initially clear whether or not a patient is having a coronary event. Such monitoring ensures patients are neither sent home too early nor needlessly admitted.

ACC's Chest Pain Center Accreditation process came about as greater numbers of facilities in the United States sought to establish standards and adopt best practices in the quality of care provided to patients experiencing chest pain. The Accreditation process ensures that hospitals meet or exceed an array of stringent criteria and undergo a comprehensive onsite review by a team of accreditation review specialists.

Hospitals that receive ACC Accreditation status have achieved a higher level of expertise in dealing with patients who present with symptoms of a heart attack. They emphasize the importance of standardized diagnostic and treatment programs that provide more efficient and effective evaluation as well as more appropriate and rapid treatment of patients with chest pain and other heart attack symptoms. They also serve as a point of entry into the healthcare system to evaluate and treat other medical problems and they help to promote a healthier lifestyle in an attempt to reduce the risk factors for heart attack.

By achieving ACC's Chest Pain Center with Primary PCI Accreditation status, Anderson Hospital demonstrates expertise in the following areas:

• Integrating the emergency department with the local emergency medical system
• Assessing, diagnosing, and treating patients quickly
• Effectively treating patients at low risk for acute coronary syndrome and no assignable cause for their symptoms
• Continually seeking to improve processes and procedures
• Ensuring the competence and training of Accredited Chest Pain Center personnel
• Maintaining organizational structure and commitment
• Constructing a functional design that promotes optimal patient care
• Supporting community outreach programs that educate the public to promptly seek medical care if they display symptoms of a possible heart attack

The American College of Cardiology is a 52,000-member medical society that is the professional home for the entire cardiovascular care team. The mission of the College is to transform cardiovascular care and to improve heart health. The ACC leads in the formation of health policy, standards and guidelines. The College offers accreditation services to individual hospitals and hospital systems the support needed to effectively reduce variations of care and bridge existing gaps in treatment. Through its collaboration with actively engaged, multidisciplinary teams, ACC is Taking Science to the Bedside™ and improving outcomes in the management of heart disease. For more information about ACC Accreditation Services, visit accreditation.acc.org, or call toll-free 1-877-271-4176.