CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., Aug. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The Society of Chest Pain Centers has granted the designation of Accredited Chest Pain Center to Memorial North Park Hospital. It is the first facility in Hixson, Tennessee to be accredited and the 54th in the nation to be accredited.
“This designation shows that we have a systematic approach for cardiac services in our Emergency Room, allowing physicians to initiate timely and effective treatment in the early stages of a heart attack,” says Marilyn Muncy, Emergency Department Director. “When you have chest pain or other symptoms of a heart attack, time is of the essence. If you live north of the river, Memorial North Park is the place to go for treatment.”
The Chest Pain Center at Memorial North Park 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.
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. The goal of the Society of Chest Pain Centers is to significantly reduce the mortality rate of these patients by teaching the public to recognize and react to early symptoms of a heart attack and by accrediting centers that can provide accurate and effective treatment.
Key areas in which Memorial North Park demonstrates expertise to become a Chest Pain Center included: (1) integrating the emergency department with the local emergency medical system; (2) assessing, diagnosing, and treating patients quickly; (3) having a functional design that promotes optimal patient care; (4) ensuring Chest Pain Center personnel competency and training; and (5) continually seeking to improve processes and procedures.
The Chest Pain Center’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.
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.
The Chest Pain Center at Memorial North Park 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 attack 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 Centers
CONTACT: Media Pager for Society of Chest Pain Centers, +1-423-655-5009,or Robert Weisenburger Lipetz, Executive Director of Society of Chest PainCenters, +1-614-274-9710, or director@scpcp.org
Web site: http://www.scpcp.org/