WEST CHESTER, PA — Chester County Hospital has received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Gold Performance Achievement Award for 2022. Chester County Hospital is one of only 81 hospitals nationwide to receive the honor.
The award recognizes Chester County Hospital’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies that Chester County Hospital has reached an aggressive goal of treating these patients to standard levels of care as outlined by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association clinical guidelines and recommendations.
To receive the Chest Pain – MI Registry Gold Performance Achievement Award, Chester County Hospital has demonstrated sustained achievement in the Chest Pain – MI Registry for two consecutive years (2020 and 2021) and performed at the top level for specific performance measures. Full participation in the registry engages hospitals in a robust quality improvement process using data to drive improvements in adherence to guideline recommendations and overall quality of care provided to heart attack patients.
“It is an honor to award Chester County Hospital with the Gold Performance Award for their valuable national leadership and dedication to meeting comprehensive performance measures in patient care,” said Michael C. Kontos, MD, FACC, chair of the NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Steering Subcommittee and cardiologist at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. “The receipt of this award indicates that Chester County Hospital remains committed to providing top quality, guideline-driven care for heart attack patients. Their success ensures patients are receiving the highest quality cardiovascular care.”
The Centers for Disease Control estimates that over 800,000 Americans suffer a heart attack each year. A heart attack occurs when a blood clot in a coronary artery partially or completely blocks blood flow to the heart muscle. Treatment guidelines include administering aspirin upon arrival and discharge, timely restoration of blood flow to the blocked artery, smoking cessation counseling and cardiac rehabilitation, among others.
Dr. Timothy J. Boyek, Medical Director of the Chest Pain Center at Chester County Hospital, says “Chester County Hospital has continued to see exponential growth of acute cardiology care over the last two years. Delivering rapid and ACC Guideline Care to EVERY heart attack victim that enters the hospital has demonstrated the true power of community integration and collaboration with Emergency Medical Services, Emergency Department clinicians and our advanced Cardiovascular Center team. All are even stronger with the advanced capabilities of our procedural platform.”
Dr. Boyek adds “A consistent example of this has been the unbelievable achievement of being able to open a totally occluded coronary artery for a critically ill patient in the throes of an active heart attack with times from ED door arrival to vessel opening in the Catheterization Laboratory often in the 30-minute range.” He also calls attention to the fact that even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and local hospital closings this nationally recognized care to our community has not waivered. “I fully expect our hospital to continue this difficult but truly lifesaving endeavor to achieve the highest possible standards for heart attack care thanks to our commitment to teamwork and serving our community.”
Chest Pain – MI Registry empowers health care provider teams to consistently treat heart attack patients according to the most current, science-based guidelines and establishes a national standard for understanding and improving the quality, safety and outcomes of care provided for patients with coronary artery disease, specifically high-risk heart attack patients.
The American College of Cardiology has also recognized Chester County Hospital for its demonstrated expertise and commitment in treating patients who come to a cardiac cath lab for care, including diagnostic catheterizations and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures. Chester County Hospital was recently awarded Cardiac Cath Lab Accreditation with PCI based on rigorous onsite evaluation of the staff’s ability to evaluate, diagnose and treat patients who come to the cardiac cath lab.
The American College of Cardiology envisions a world where innovation and knowledge optimize cardiovascular care and outcomes. As the professional home for the entire cardiovascular care team, the mission of the College and its more than 56,000 members is to transform cardiovascular care and to improve heart health. The ACC bestows credentials upon cardiovascular professionals who meet stringent qualifications and leads in the formation of health policy, standards and guidelines. The College also provides professional medical education, disseminates cardiovascular research through its world-renowned JACC Journals, operates national registries to measure and improve care, and offers cardiovascular accreditation to hospitals and institutions. For more information, visit www.acc.org.
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