The four St. Peter’s Health Partners (SPHP) acute care hospitals have received national Chest Pain Center Accreditation from the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care (SCPC).
To receive the accreditation, St. Peter’s, Samaritan, Albany Memorial, and St. Mary’s hospitals all demonstrated their expertise and commitment to quality patient care by meeting or exceeding a wide set of stringent SCPC criteria and undergoing an on-site review.
The four SPHP hospitals are the only hospitals in the Capital Region to have earned SCPC Chest Pain Center Accreditation.
“Achieving national Chest Pain Center Accreditation at all four of our acute care hospitals is a major milestone for our system, and it reflects our commitment to providing the highest quality cardiac care for patients in the Capital Region,” said James K. Reed, M.D., president and chief executive officer of SPHP. “We are honored to have earned this new designation, and I applaud the efforts and accomplishments of all of the dedicated individuals across St. Peter’s Health Partners whose contributions made the accreditation possible.”
Heart attacks are the leading cause of death in the United States, with 600,000 people dying annually of heart disease. More than five million Americans visit hospitals each year with chest pain.
As accredited Chest Pain Centers, the emergency departments at St. Peter’s, Samaritan, Albany Memorial, and St. Mary’s hospitals have demonstrated a commitment to SCPC’s goal of significantly reducing the death rate of cardiac patients by reducing the time it takes to receive treatment and increasing the accuracy and effectiveness of treatment.
SPHP Chest Pain Centers use a protocol-driven and systematic approach to patient management that allows physicians to reduce time to treatment during the critical early stages of a heart attack, and help ensure that patients are neither sent home too early nor needlessly admitted.
Chest Pain Center Accreditation with PCI
St. Peter’s and Samaritan hospitals have received “Chest Pain Center Accreditation with PCI” (Percutaneous Coronary Intervention) from SCPC. To achieve this, the hospitals were required to meet or exceed many quality-of-care measures in acute cardiac medicine. They also underwent a site visit and on-site review by SCPC.
Hospitals awarded this designation have Primary PCI – urgent balloon angioplasty to open blocked arteries – available at all times, 24 hours a day, on every day of the year. This means they have an on-call team made up of cardiac catheterization lab staff and an interventional cardiologist who arrive to the facility within 30 minutes of a heart attack diagnosis. The hospitals have also mapped their heart attack treatment processes to maximize efficiencies that lead to quicker treatment and improved outcomes.
Chest Pain Center Accreditation
Albany Memorial and St. Mary’s hospitals received “Chest Pain Center Accreditation” from SCPC. To receive this distinction, they engaged in a rigorous evaluation by SCPC, and were reviewed for their ability to assess, diagnose, and treat patients who may be experiencing a heart attack.
Chest Pain Center Accreditation designation is for facilities that do not have 24-hour primary PCI coverage every day of the year, but do have receiving centers where they send patients for Primary PCI. These facilities have a robust, detailed referral protocols in place – including written agreements with emergency medical services and air transport agencies.
About SCPC
The Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care (SCPC) is an international nonprofit organization that focuses on transforming cardiovascular care by assisting facilities in their effort to create cardiovascular centers of excellence that deliver quality, cost and patient satisfaction. As the only cross-specialty organization, SCPC provides the support needed for individual hospitals and hospital systems to effectively reduce variations of care and bridge existing gaps in treatment by providing the tools, education, and support necessary to improve patient outcomes. For more information, visit www.scpc.org.
