The Chest Pain Center Accreditation Process
To earn accreditation status as a Chest Pain Center with PCI, John C. Lincoln Deer Valley Hospital and North Mountain Hospital each needed to meet or exceed a wide set of stringent criteria. Our hospitals also underwent on-site evaluations by a team of reviewers from the international Society of Chest Pain Centers (SCPC).
Much of the evaluation focuses on process improvement: Are steps in place to give chest-pain patients expedited, expert care? SCPC reviewers also wanted to know whether our physicians are able to monitor patients when it is not certain whether they are having heart-related events. This monitoring capability wards against sending patients home too early or admitting them to the CCU prematurely.
Eight Key Areas for Accreditation
To become accredited Chest Pain Centers, John C. Lincoln's hospitals have demonstrated expertise in eight key areas:
1. Effective integration with the local Emergency Medical System: Closely collaborating with pre-hospital paramedics and EMTs to standardize care processes.
2. Ability to assess, diagnose, and treat patients quickly: Beating the recommendation for 90-minute door-to-balloon time is one way in which we meet this standard.
3. Capacity to care for patients who are suffering chest pain: Many patients have chest pain, but remain a low risk for a heart attack. A systematic approach to patient management is necessary to provide appropriate care, depending on risk levels.
4. Functional facility design: At North Mountain Hospital, the state-of-the-art Emergency and Level I Trauma Center opened in October 2007. Likewise, in 2004 Deer Valley Hospital unveiled a new Emergency Department in Pavilion II. Both facilities were designed to maximize staff efficiency, maintain fast time-to-treatment and incorporate advanced heart-monitoring equipment.
5. Personnel competencies and training: Leadership, physicians and nursing staff are carefully trained to specialize in care for patients with heart attack symptoms.
6. Organizational structure and commitment: Our administration, medical staff and executive leadership are committed to support our Chest Pain Centers for the benefit of our community.
7. A focus on improving care: John C. Lincoln's management structure has adopted a continuous quality improvement program that ensures a high quality of patient care and careful use of emergency department resources.
8. Community outreach: Through a variety of public-service announcements, we have helped to educate our community about 1.) the risk factors for heart disease and 2.) the need to promptly seek medical care if heart attack symptoms arise.