COLUMBUS, Ind., Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The Society of Chest Pain Centers has granted the designation of Accredited Chest Pain Center to Columbus Regional Hospital, making it only the 4th accredited Chest Pain Center in Indiana and the 64th in the nation. The Society's accreditation process ensures hospitals meet or exceed quality-of-care measures in acute cardiac medicine.
The goal of the Society of Chest Pain Centers is to significantly reduce the mortality rate from heart attacks by educating 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. Heart attacks are the leading cause of death in the United States, with 600,000 dying annually of heart disease. More than five million Americans visit hospitals each year with chest pain.
Columbus Regional Hospital's protocol driven and systematic approach to patient management allows physicians to reduce time to treatment during the critical early stages of a heart attack, when treatments are most effective, and to better monitor patients when it is not clear whether they are having a coronary event. Such observation helps ensure that a patient is neither sent home too early nor needlessly admitted.
"This national accreditation reflects our quality care provided to patients with chest pain which is a crucial part in our overall delivery of cardiac services," says Dr. David Hamilton, Medical Director of Cardiology at Columbus Regional Hospital. "By adding interventional cardiology and cardiac surgery two years ago, we can now best meet the acute cardiac needs of patients in our region."
"Our hospital has been a national benchmark for several years for our quick response time to providing heart attack patients with life-saving medication," says Dr. Michael Chadwick, Medical Director of Emergency Services at Columbus Regional Hospital. "The Chest Pain Center accreditation demonstrates our responsiveness beginning with transport by ambulance or helicopter, to treatment in the Emergency Department and Cardiology which has improved care for patients."
With the rise of Chest Pain Centers came the need to establish standards designed to improve the consistency and quality of care provided to patients. The Society's accreditation process insures centers meet or exceed quality-of- care measures in acute cardiac medicine.
Columbus Regional Hospital has demonstrated its expertise and commitment to quality patient care by meeting or exceeding a wide set of stringent criteria and completing on-site evaluations by a review team from the Society of Chest Pain Centers. Key areas in which a Chest Pain Center must demonstrate expertise include:
- Integrating the emergency department with the local emergency medical system - Assessing, diagnosing, and treating patients quickly - Effectively treating patients with low risk for acute coronary syndrome and no assignable cause for their symptoms - Having a functional design that promotes optimal patient care - Ensuring Chest Pain Center personnel competency and training - Maintaining organizational structure and commitment - Continually seeking to improve processes and procedures
Supporting community outreach programs that educate the public to promptly seek medical care if they have display symptoms of a possible heart attach.
The other hospitals in Indiana with Chest Pain Center accreditation are Deaconness Hospital in Evansville, Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne, and Memorial Hospital in South Bend.
About Columbus Regional Hospital
Columbus Regional Hospital is a regional referral hospital serving multiple counties in southeastern Indiana, and is the first Indiana hospital to achieve national Magnet nursing accreditation for quality patient care. For more information, visit http://www.crh.org/ or contact Denise Glesing, Community Relations, at (812) 376-5344.
About the Society of Chest Pain Centers
The Society of Chest Pain Centers (SCPC) is an international professional society focused on improving care for patients with acute coronary syndromes and related maladies. Established in 1998, the Society is dedicated to patient advocacy and focusing on ischemic heart disease. Central to its mission is the question, "What is right for the patient?" In answer, the Society promotes protocol-based medicine, often delivered through a Chest Pain Center model to address the diagnosis and treatment of acute coronary syndromes, heart failure, and to promote the adoption of process improvement science by healthcare providers. SCPC is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. For more information, visit http://www.scpcp.org/ . For more information on the Society of Chest Pain Centers, please contact Robert Weisenburger Lipetz, Executive Director, at (614) 274-9710 or director@scpcp.org .
Society of Chest Pain CentersCONTACT: Robert Weisenburger Lipetz, Executive Director of the Society ofChest Pain Centers, +1-614-274-9710, or director@scpcp.org ; or DeniseGlesing, Community Relations of Columbus Regional Hospital, +1-812-376-5344
Web site: http://www.scpcp.org/http://www.crh.org/
