NCDR ACTION Registry–GWTG Silver award recognizes high standards of care
MONROE, LA – St. Francis Medical Center has received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR ACTION Registry–GWTG Silver Performance Achievement Award for 2016. St. Francis Medical Center is one of only 21 hospitals nationwide to receive the honor.
The award recognizes St. Francis Medical Center’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies that St. Francis has reached an aggressive goal of treating these patients to standard levels of care as outlined by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association clinical guidelines and recommendations.
To receive the ACTION Registry–GWTG Silver Performance Achievement Award, St. Francis Medical Center consistently followed the treatment guidelines in the ACTION Registry–GWTG for four consecutive quarters and has performed at the top level of standards for specific performance measures. Full participation in the registry engages hospitals in a robust quality improvement process using data to drive improvements in adherence to guideline recommendations and overall quality of care provided to heart attack patients.
“As a Silver Performance Award recipient, St. Francis Medical Center has shown it is a leader in implementing standards of care and protocols for its patients,” said Deepak L. Bhatt, M.D., M.P.H., FACC, FAHA, Chair, ACTION Registry-GWTG Chair; Executive Director of Interventional Cardiovascular Programs, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Heart and Vascular Center; and Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School. “By meeting the requirements set forth in the registry and establishing a culture of providing guideline-recommended therapy, St. Francis Medical Center is saving lives and improving outcomes of heart attack patients.”
The Center for Disease Control estimates that over 700,000 Americans suffer a heart attack each year. A heart attack occurs when a blood clot in a coronary artery partially or completely blocks blood flow to the heart muscle. Treatment guidelines include administering aspirin upon arrival and discharge, timely restoration of blood flow to the blocked artery, smoking cessation counseling and cardiac rehabilitation, among others.
"We are very proud to have received this recognition. Patients suffering from heart attacks can be confident they will receive optimal and timely care from the moment they arrive at St. Francis, "said Kristin Wolkart, St. Francis Medical Center President and CEO. "Our physicians and team members are dedicated to improving the quality of care for patients who suffer from a heart attack through continued implementation of the guidelines provided by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association."
ACTION Registry–GWTG is a partnership between the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association with partnering support from the American College of Emergency Physicians and the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care. ACTION Registry-GWTG empowers health care provider teams to consistently treat heart attack patients according to the most current, science-based guidelines and establishes a national standard for understanding and improving the quality, safety and outcomes of care provided for patients with coronary artery disease, specifically high-risk heart attack patients.
About St. Francis Medical Center
Founded in 1913, St. Francis Medical Center has grown to become Northeast Louisiana’s largest healthcare provider and one of the largest employers in Ouachita Parish. Today, St. Francis is licensed for 550 beds, employs nearly 2,000 team members and partners with over 300 medical staff members. Our mission of extending the healing ministry of Jesus Christ to those most in need reaches out to 17 parishes in Louisiana and three counties in Arkansas, an area with a population exceeding 515,000 people. St. Francis Medical Center is proud to have been providing healthcare services in our community for over 103 years.
About American College of Cardiology
The American College of Cardiologyis a 52,000-member medical society that is the professional home for the entire cardiovascular care team. The mission of the College is to transform cardiovascular care and to improve heart health. The ACC leads in the formation of health policy, standards and guidelines. The College operates national registries to measure and improve care, offers cardiovascular accreditation to hospitals and institutions, provides professional medical education, disseminates cardiovascular research and bestows credentials upon cardiovascular specialists who meet stringent qualifications. For more, visit acc.org.