Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Huntersville, N.C. - Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville received a full Cycle II Chest Pain Center accreditation by the Society of Chest Pain Centers. This designation recognizes PHH for meeting the highest national standards for the care of heart attack and chest pain patients. With this achievement, PHH joins Presbyterian Hospital and Presbyterian Hospital Matthews as Cycle II Chest Pain-accredited facilities, ensuring optimal care for all chest pain patients in the Charlotte area.
"It is a great honor to receive this distinction," said Melissa Robson, Senior Director of Operations at PHH. "The accreditation confirms the dedication of Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville's physicians and staff and indicates the high quality of care that we provide our patients." More than five million Americans with chest pain visit hospitals each year.
The goal of the Society of Chest Pain Centers is to significantly reduce the mortality rate of these patients by teaching the public to recognize and react to the early symptoms of a possible heart attack, reduce the time that it takes to receive treatment and increase the accuracy and effectiveness of treatment.The Chest Pain Center at Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville is designed to help emergency staff and physicians reduce time to treatment during the early stages of a heart attack, when treatments are most effective, and to better monitor patients when it is not clear if they are having a coronary event.
Such observation helps ensure that a patient is neither sent home too early nor needlessly admitted. "Receiving this certification recognizes the successful, collaborative effort of the chest pain team at Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville," said Tracy Holshouser, Emergency Department nurse manager at Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville. "Patients should feel confident that they will receive excellent outcomes at our facility."
To achieve accreditation, Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville had to demonstrate 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 Having a functional design that promotes optimal patient care Insuring chest pain center personnel competency and training Maintaining organizational structure and procedures Supporting community outreach programs that educate the public to promptly seek medical care if they display symptoms of a possible heart attack