St. Vincent’s Medical Center received full cycle II accreditation with PCI from the Accreditation Review Committee of the Society of Chest Pain Centers on July 6, 2009.  Accreditation continues for the next three years. 

“This is much more than a fancy label,” says Interventional Cardiologist George Pilcher, M.D.  “An accredited Chest Pain Center helps streamline care for people who are having an actual or impending heart attack.  The goal is the very highest level of care for these patients, and that is what accredited Chest Pain Centers like ours deliver.”

Heart attacks are the leading cause of death in the United States with 600,000 dying each year of heart disease.  More than five million Americans visit hospitals each year with chest pain.  The goal of the Society of Chest Pain Centers is to reduce significantly the deaths of patients; first, by teaching the public to recognize symptoms early and to react right away, reducing the time it takes to get treatment; second, by increasing the accuracy and effectiveness of treatment.

“The Society’s accreditation process insures centers meet or exceed quality-of-care measures in acute cardiac medicine, so we are understandably very pleased to have received this recognition,” says Christine Veal, Cardiovascular Service Line Director for St. Vincent’s HealthCare. “Chest Pain Center accreditation acknowledges the dedication of all those involved in the care of patients facing a heart attack.  That includes doctors and nurses in the Emergency Department, our Heart Center Cath Labs and all the other caregivers involved in each step of this important process.”

The Chest Pain Center’s protocol-drive and systematic approach to patient management allows physicians to reduce time to treatment during the critical early stages of a heart attack when treatments are most effective and to monitor patients better when it is not clear whether they are having a coronary event.  Such observation helps ensure that a patient is neither sent home too early nor admitted needlessly.

The Chest Pain Center at St. Vincent’s Medical Center has demonstrated its expertise and commitment to quality patient care by meeting or exceeding a wide set of stringent criteria and completing on-site evaluations by a review team from the Society of Chest Pain Centers.  Key areas in which a Chest Pain Center must demonstrate expertise include:

* 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 Chest Pain Center personnel competency and training
* Maintaining organizational structure and commitment
* Having a functional design that promotes optimal patient care
* Supporting community outreach programs that educate the public to seek medical care promptly if they have symptoms of a possible heart attack

About the Society of Chest Pain Centers (SCPC)
The Society of Chest Pain Centers is a patient centric non-profit international professional organization focused upon improving care for patients with acute coronary syndromes and other related maladies.  Established in 1998, the Society is dedicated to patient advocacy and focusing on ischemic heart disease.  Central to its mission is the question, “What is right for the patient?”  In answer, the Society promotes protocol based medicine, often delivered through a Chest Pain Center model to address the diagnosis and treatment of acute coronary syndromes, heart failure and to promote the adoption of process improvement science by healthcare providers.  To best fulfill this mission, the Society of Chest Pain Centers provides accreditation to facilities striving for optimum Chest Pain Center care.  SCPC is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.  More information on the Society of Chest Pain Centers is available at www.scpcp.org or at (614) 442-5950.