Rogers-Lowell Area News

Northwest Medical Center-Springdale awarded Cycle 6 Chest Pain Center with Primary PCI accreditation

Northwest Medical Center-Springdale has recently been accredited as a Cycle 6 Chest Pain Center with Primary PCI (Percutaneous Coronary Intervention). The rating is given by the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care (SCPC), the accreditation arm of the American College of Cardiology.

“Providing the highest quality of services for patients in need of heart care is a primary focus of our hospital,” said Hans Driessnack, CEO of Northwest Medical Center-Springdale. “Our team here works hard to deliver evidenced-based care as quickly as possible to patients with chest pain, patients having a heart attack needing treatment in the Cardiac Cath Lab, those requiring surgery and to those recovering from a cardiac arrest through cardiac rehab. This national recognition validates our continued commitment.”

An Accredited Chest Pain Center’s (CPC) evidence-based, protocol-driven and systematic approach to cardiac patient care allows clinicians to reduce time to treatment during the critical early stages of a heart attack. Accredited facilities have been shown to better monitor patients when it is not initially clear whether or not a patient is having a coronary event. Such monitoring ensures patients are neither sent home too early nor needlessly admitted.

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. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in Arkansas, claiming the lives of approximately 8,000 people each year. The state is consistently ranked in the top five states for heart attack deaths, ranking 3rd in 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The higher prevalence is attributed to higher percentages of people who smoke and are overweight, among other risk factors including lack of physical exercise and having diabetes.

SCPC’s Chest Pain Center accreditation process came about as greater numbers of facilities in the United States sought to establish standards and adopt best practices in the quality of care provided to patients experiencing chest pain. The accreditation process ensures that hospitals meet or exceed an array of stringent criteria and undergo a comprehensive onsite review by a team of accreditation review specialists. Hospitals that receive SCPC Chest Pain Center accreditation status have achieved a higher level of expertise in dealing with patients who present with symptoms of a heart attack.

Accredited hospitals emphasize the importance of standardized diagnostic and treatment programs that provide more efficient and effective evaluation as well as more appropriate and rapid treatment of patients with chest pain and other heart attack symptoms. They also serve as a point of entry into the healthcare system to evaluate and treat other medical problems and help to promote a healthier lifestyle in an attempt to reduce the risk factors for heart attack.