Adventist HealthCare Honored for Delivering High-Quality Cardiac Care

Adventist HealthCare Washington Adventist Hospital and Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center each recently received a national award for high-quality cardiac care they provide to the region.

Story by Danielle Lewald

The 2015 Platinum Performance Achievement Award from the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR ACTION Registry–GWTG recognizes the hospitals’ commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients. Adventist HealthCare Washington Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park, Md., and Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center in Rockville, Md., are among only 319 hospitals nationwide to receive the Platinum honor.

“We are honored to be recognized by the American College of Cardiology for the sixth consecutive year for providing high-quality cardiac care,” says John Sackett, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Adventist HealthCare and president of Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center. “This national achievement reflects the ongoing commitment of our staff who care for some of our most critically ill patients and their families.

To receive the Platinum award, Adventist HealthCare Washington Adventist Hospital and Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center consistently followed the treatment guidelines in the ACTION Registry–GWTG Premier for eight consecutive quarters and met a performance standard of 90 percent for specific performance measures. The Premier registry requires hospitals to report more detailed data on specific measures.

“As a leader in cardiac care in the D.C. region, we are proud to be honored again for delivering quality patient care," says Erik Wangsness, president of Adventist HealthCare Washington Adventist Hospital. “Adherence to these guidelines is a critical step in saving the lives and improving outcomes of heart attack patients.”

Full participation in the registry engages hospitals in a robust quality improvement process using data to drive improvements in adherence to guideline recommendations and overall quality of care provided to heart attack patients.

Both hospitals are also designated Chest Pain Centers with Percutaneous Coronary Intervention by the national Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care. This means they exceed rigid standards for care procedures in the treatment of patients with chest pain and other heart attack symptoms.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 700,000 Americans suffer a heart attack each year. A heart attack occurs when a blood clot in a coronary artery partially or completely blocks blood flow to the heart muscle. Treatment guidelines include administering aspirin upon arrival and discharge, timely restoration of blood flow to the blocked artery, smoking cessation counseling and cardiac rehabilitation, among others.

ACTION Registry–GWTG is a partnership between the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association with partnering support from the American College of Emergency

Physicians and the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care. ACTION Registry-GWTG empowers health care provider teams to consistently treat heart attack patients according to the most current, science-based guidelines and establishes a national standard for understanding and improving the quality, safety and outcomes of care provided for patients with coronary artery disease, specifically high-risk heart attack patients.