Shawnee Mission Medical Center Recognized for Excellence in Cardiac Care

The Chest Pain Center at Shawnee Mission Medical Center (SMMC) has earned Reaccreditation for Chest Pain with Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI, commonly known as angioplasty) from the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care (SCPC) and was also recognized with two awards from the American Heart Association.

An Accredited Chest Pain Centers evidence-based, protocol-driven and systematic approach to cardiac patient care allows clinicians to reduce time by providing treatment during the early stages of a heart attack. Accredited Chest Pain Centers better monitor patients when it is not clear whether or not a patient is having a coronary event. Such monitoring ensures patients are neither sent home too early nor needlessly admitted.

Full accreditation with PCI from the SCPC is achieved by demonstrating expertise in the following areas:

Integrating the Emergency Department with the local emergency medical system

• - Assessing, diagnosing, and treating patients quickly
• - Effectively treating patients with low risk for acute coronary syndrome and no assignable cause for their symptoms
• - Continually seeking to improve processes and procedures
• - Ensuring the competence and training of Accredited Chest Pain Center personnel
• - Maintaining organizational structure and commitment
• - Having a functional design that promotes optimal patient care
• - Supporting community outreach programs that educate the public to promptly seek medical care if they display symptoms of a possible heart attack.

In addition, SMMC was honored with the Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure Gold Quality Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Foundations secondary prevention guidelines for patients with heart failure.

Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure is a quality improvement program that helps hospital teams provide the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines with the goal of faster recovery and reducing hospital readmissions for heart failure patients. Finally, SMMC was recognized by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology as a Mission: Lifeline STEMI Receiving Center Gold Plus Achievement Award. ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) is a very serious type of heart attack during which one of the hearts major arteries (one of the arteries that supplies oxygen and nutrient-rich blood to the heart muscle) is blocked. The award recognizes the training and procedures SMMC has put in place to treat patients suffering from this type of attack.

"Shawnee Mission Health is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our cardiology patients. The steps we take toward earning SCPC Chest Pain Center Accreditation status and recognition from the American Heart Association help to improve patient outcomes and demonstrate the dedication of our incredible staff," said Vickie Franck, executive director for Shawnee Mission Heart and Vascular Services.