Baptist Receives Chest Pain Accreditation for the Second Time in the Metro Jackson Area
The Society of Chest Pain Centers has granted Baptist Cardiovascular Services, a division of Baptist Medical Center in Jackson, Miss., accreditation for its care of chest pain patients for the second time.
Jackson, MS (Vocus/PRWEB ) September 25, 2009 -- The Society of Chest Pain Centers has granted Baptist Cardiovascular Services, a division of Baptist Medical Center in Jackson, Miss., accreditation for its care of chest pain patients for the second time. Baptist is the first hospital in the Metro Jackson area to receive this designation and the only hospital in the area to receive accreditation. This distinction establishes Baptist as a premier hospital for acute cardiac care in this area.
"This indicates nationally recognized experts have verified that heart attack patients receive the best possible care at Baptist, from the ER to the Cath lab," said Baptist Emergency Department Medical Director Eric Zoog, M.D. "The society has very strict criteria and has determined Baptist performs well enough to receive the highest accreditation. To achieve this, we had to submit our process with both written analysis and pass an on-site investigation."
The accreditation demonstrates Baptist adheres very closely to recommendations from the American College of Cardiology, the American College of Emergency Physicians and the America Heart Association. The guidelines call for the earliest possible determination -- in the Emergency Room -- of the patient's risk for a serious cardiac event such as a heart attack. It also prescribes what symptoms and tests should be used to evaluate risk and specify treatments that correspond to the risk level determined.
"Compliance with guidelines and recommendations of the ACC and AHA have been shown to improve outcomes and save lives of patients with coronary artery disease," added Cardiologist Todd Lawson, MD.
Baptist and American Medical Response (AMR) ambulance service as well as other area hospitals have recently partnered to expedite care for chest pain patients. Baptist purchased EKG equipment allowing AMR to obtain test so cardiac evaluation can be performed even before the patient hits Baptist's Emergency Department.
For several years, Baptist worked on identifying ways to improve care and processes to expedite early diagnosis and intervention of chest pain patients. One example is the creation of the Cardiac Observation Unit in 2003, which is designated for the rapid identification of the cause of chest pain for patients arriving at the ER.
"The development of this unit was the result of recommendations from a team composed of cardiologists, emergency medicine physicians, and clinical staff members from nursing, the ER, cardiac rehab and the pharmacy, who all came together with a plan to enhance patient flow through the ER and minimize unnecessary hospital admissions," added Baptist Cardiovascular Services Director Heather Sistrunk.
For more information on Baptist Cardiovascular Services and chest pain, visit Baptist's website at www.mbhs.org.
About The Society of Chest Pain Centers:
The Society of Chest Pain Centers inaugurated an accreditation process through which they evaluate Chest Pain Centers across the country in order to ensure that these centers meet or exceed quality-of-care measures in acute cardiac medicine. The Society of Chest Pain Centers is a patient centric non-profit international professional association organization focused upon improving care for patients with acute coronary syndromes and other maladies.
About Baptist Health Systems:
Baptist Health Systems is the parent company of Baptist Medical Center, The Mississippi Hospital for Restorative Care and a number of related healthcare services and programs. For almost a century, Baptist Medical Center has served Mississippi and the surrounding states as a Christian-based, non-profit comprehensive medical Center.
From its beginnings in 1908, Baptist has grown to include a medical center providing comprehensive services for people in every stage of life. The 500+ members of Baptist's medical staff represent more than 85 medical specialties.
Baptist Medical Center has been awarded the Gold Seal of Approval ™ and has achieved Disease-Specific Care Certification from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) in the areas of cancer services, acute coronary syndrome and outpatient diabetes. Additionally, Baptist was the first organization in the United States to earn this distinction for an entire cancer program.
Visit Baptist on the web at www.mbhs.org. For more information contact the Baptist Health Line at 1-800-948-6262 or 948-6262.
###
|
