Providence Hospital Receives American College of Cardiology Award for Cardiac Care
July 13, 2015
COLUMBIA, SC – Providence Hospitals is one of only 91 hospitals nationwide to receive the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR ACTION Registry–GWTG Silver Performance Achievement Award for 2015.
The award recognizes commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies that Providence Hospitals 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, Providence Hospitals consistently followed the treatment guidelines in the ACTION Registry–GWTG for four consecutive quarters and met a performance standard of 90 percent 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.
“The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association commend Providence Hospitals for its success in implementing standards of care and protocols. The full implementation of acute and secondary prevention guideline-recommended therapy is a critical step in saving the lives and improving outcomes of heart attack patients,” said James Jollis, MD, FACC, ACTION Registry-GWTG Chair and Professor of Medicine and Radiology at Duke University Hospital.
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.
“Providence Hospitals has long been a leader of cardiac care,” says Interim CEO Terrence P. Kessler. “The fact that we can continuously deliver the highest level of heart treatment, followed by nurturing and educational lifestyle guidance, all with the loving compassion of a faith-based organization, gives us great pride.”
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 Providence Hospitals
About Providence Hospitals, a ministry of the Sisters of Charity Health System, is the leading provider of cardiovascular and orthopedic services in the Midlands. Providence is composed of two hospitals, thirteen physician practices, a network of rehabilitation centers, two sleep centers, a school of cardiac diagnostics and is an accredited chest pain center. In total, Providence employs more than 2,000 dedicated staff. Founded in 1938 by the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, Providence is known statewide for outstanding clinical quality and compassionate care. The Providence open heart surgery program has ranked consistently in the top 15% of open heart programs for the past six and one-half years. Both the orthopedics and cardiac services have received the South Carolina BlueCross BlueShield Blue Distinction Center designation. For more information, visit www.providencehospitals.com.
The American College of Cardiology is a 49,000-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, provides professional medical education, disseminates cardiovascular research and bestows credentials upon cardiovascular specialists who meet stringent qualifications. For more information, visit ACC.org.
