COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The Society of Chest Pain Centers (SCPC) has chosen Robert Stomel, DO, FACOI, FACC, FCCP as the new president of the organization. Previously Chairman of the SCPC Accreditation Committee, Dr. Stomel’s experience as Chief of Cardiology at Botsford General Hospital and Director of its Cardiac Fellowship Program clearly states his ability to take over this position to continue to improve Chest Pain Centers in hospitals across the United States.
Dr. Stomel is a leader in the field of invasive cardiology, pacemakers and cardiovascular managed care. He is President-elect of the Michigan Osteopathic Association (MOA), on the Board of Directors of the Physician Review Organization of Michigan (PROM), Professional Credential Verification Service Inc. (PCVS) and lectures extensively on the cost effective treatment of cardiovascular care. He is also immediate past-President of the American College of Osteopathic Internists.
“Chest Pain Center accreditation is an important healthcare issue. The public has a right to know which hospitals have dedicated chest pain programs. Unfortunately, in Michigan and throughout the United States, there is great variability in how chest pain is treated at each hospital. The goal of the Society of Chest Pain Centers is to standardize the treatment of chest pain throughout the world. The protocols and guidelines already exist and we need to follow them,” said Dr. Stomel, Chief of Cardiology at Botsford General Hospital.
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 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.
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.
Once a Chest Pain Center 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 the facility is granted accreditation for their ER Chest Pain Center. 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. The Society is committed to improving the quality of patient care through protocol-based medicine and the adoption of process improvement science to healthcare. 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: Robert Weisenburger Lipetz, Executive Director of Society ofChest Pain Centers, +1-614-274-9710, or director@scpcp.org
Web site: http://www.scpcp.org/
