Our ability to communicate across regions and organizations has improved how services and products are shared. These improvements are even more evident in health care.
Health care organizations can now integrate with other experts and achieve better outcomes for their patients. A perfect example is the Chest Pain Center Accreditation through the American College of Cardiology (ACC).
According to Dr. V. Aravind Reddy, cardiologist with the OSF Cardiovascular Institute in Urbana, Illinois, a Chest Pain Center accredited organization is better prepared to help patients with heart attack symptoms.
“In order to improve, we achieved Chest Pain Center accreditation at OSF HealthCare Heart of Mary Medical Center,” Dr. Reddy said. “The rigorous process taught us how to be more efficient in evaluating patients who present with chest pain or other heart attack symptoms.”
Time is crucial
The Chest Pain Center program teaches providers to evaluate and treat patients with heart attack symptoms rapidly.
“During a heart attack, time loss is muscle loss,” Dr. Reddy said. “This program helps us identify and treat heart issues faster. We can also remove variations in care, leading to better outcomes for our patients.”
The emergency personnel and cardiovascular teams learn how to appropriately treat a patient based on their symptoms, diversifying risk and improving patient outcomes.
Dr. Reddy reiterated the importance of early recognition and treatment to avoid heart damage. If you are experiencing chest discomfort, you should get evaluated immediately – early detection and stabilization are critical.
Sharing knowledge
The Chest Pain Center accreditation allows organizations to share data through the Chest Pain – MI Registry. The registry collects data from around the country to teach best-practices for heart attack treatments.
“Before these types of collaborations, health care providers relied on their personal experiences and knowledge, creating silos of care,” Dr. Reddy said. “Now, we can share experiences and get real-time data on what works best and how we all can improve.”
The collection of information allows care teams to identify gaps, measure results, and revise processes, giving us new treatment strategies as the patient transitions through different levels of care.
“It is a part of our commitment to provide consistent, high-quality care throughout every patient’s journey,” Dr. Reddy said. “We want to get patients back to their lives by reducing how long they need to stay in the hospital and decrease the possibility that they need to return.”
The accreditation also establishes a multi-disciplinary committee to lead the cardiology program, providing clinical oversight and education to meet the needs of providers and staff.
Community outreach
Health care has involved into a community collaboration that includes the general population, health care providers, insurance and government agencies. Our ability to share information across barriers allows us to provide health advice and warnings to everyone, empowering people to manage their health.
As a Chest Pain Center Accredited program, we have more tools to involve the community,” Dr. Reddy said. “We partner with EMS, local health care providers, employers and the community-at-large to increase heart-health awareness.”
Click here to learn more about OSF Heart of Mary earning the American College of Cardiology Chest Pain Center accreditation.
Last Updated: November 27, 2020