SUBMITTED NEWS RELEASE
Effective May 25, 2011, the Society of Chest Pain Centers (SCPC) has granted the designation of Accredited Chest Pain Center to Renown South Meadows Medical Center. The accreditation from the review committee marks another quality milestone for the region’s leader in heart care. Renown Regional Medical Center earned its SCPC Accreditation in June of 2009.
To gain the accreditation, the emergency department at Renown South Meadows underwent a rigorous evaluation by SCPC for its ability to assess, diagnose, and treat patients who may be experiencing a heart attack. This means that processes are in place to meet strict criteria aimed at:
- Reducing the time from onset of symptoms to diagnosis and treatment
- Treating patients more quickly during the critical window of time when the integrity of the heart muscle can be preserved
- Monitoring patients when it is not certain that they are having a heart attack to ensure that they are not sent home too quickly or needlessly admitted to the hospital
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. The protocol is also there 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.
“We are pleased to receive accreditation as a Chest Pain Center given our continuous efforts to reach new levels of excellence and care for heart patients,” said Blain Claypool, CEO, Renown South Meadows. ” This latest development underscores our commitment to continuous improvement and the teamwork and collaboration required to exceed national standards.”
The accreditation by the Society of Chest Pain Centers is the latest in a string of national distinctions earned by Renown Health within the past few months. Some of those include
- Top 100 Integrated Healthcare Network for the eighth year in a row.
- Consumer Choice Award recipient for the seventh year in a row.
- Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Gold Plus Performance Achievement Award.
- Recertification as a Primary Stroke Center by the Joint Commission
The Chest Pain Center at Renown South Meadows 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 SCPC. Key areas in which Renown South Meadows demonstrated 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
- Continually seeking to improve processes and procedures
- Ensuring Chest Pain Center personnel competency and training
- Maintaining organizational structure and commitment
- Having a functional design that promotes optimal patient care
- Supporting community outreach programs that educate the public to promptly seek medical care if they display symptoms of a possible heart attack
Renown Health has long been recognized as a pioneer in the diagnosis and treatment of heart-related illness. More cardiovascular procedures are done at Renown than anywhere else in the region. Renown has also introduced many of the community’s cardiovascular milestones including the first open-heart surgery, first cardiac angioplasty and first heart catheterization.
In 2008, Renown Regional became the first hospital between Seattle, Wash. and Long Beach, Cal. to perform a da Vinci® Mitral Valve Repair; was the first hospital in the state to use the Talent Abdominal Stent Graft; introduced the first true 64-slice CT scanner that successfully detected coronary artery disease in two separate pediatric patients and was among the first in the nation and first in the state to implant the new implantable cardioverter defibrillator called TELIGEN.
In 2009, Renown Regional became the first and remains the only accredited Chest Pain Center using the D-SPECT heart camera. The health network was also the first to partner with BioMedix and introduce PADNet Screenings designed to detect peripheral artery disease.
Heart attacks are the leading cause of death in the United States. In 2005, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported an estimated 16 million people in the United States were living with coronary heart disease. Of those, more than five million visit hospitals each year with chest pain.
The goal of the Society of Chest Pain Centers is to significantly reduce the mortality rate of those 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.
About Renown Institute for Heart & Vascular Health
When it comes to choosing the right hospital for heart and vascular health, experience counts. More cardiovascular procedures are performed at Renown Institute for Heart & Vascular Health than anywhere else in northern Nevada. It’s no wonder that the Institute has more than 30 years of recognition as the region’s leader of heart and vascular care. Renown is committed to providing a level of skill, expertise and technology normally found in much larger communities so that patients do not have to leave the community to receive the high level of care they expect and deserve.
The organization is also committed to bringing in high caliber physicians and the necessary tools and equipment to meet the needs of the region’s growing population. Renown’s cardiac physicians have access to sophisticated diagnostic and surgical equipment such as the da Vinci® S HD™ Robotic Surgical System, 64-slice CT scanner, nuclear medicine, MRI and cardiac catheterization so patients can be diagnosed and treated quickly.
About the Society of Chest Pain Centers (SCPC)
The Society of Chest Pain Centers is a patient centric non-profit international professional organization focused upon improving care for patients with acute coronary syndromes and other 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. To best fulfill this mission, the Society of Chest Pain Centers provides accreditation to facilities striving for optimum Chest Pain Center care. SCPC is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. For more information on SCPC visit www.scpcp.org.
