Press release

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (Sept. 4, 2012) – Mission Health’s Heart Services has received the American College of Cardiology Foundation’s National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR®) ACTION Registry® – Get with the Guidelines (GWTG™) Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2012 – one of only 164 hospitals nationwide to receive this honor. The award recognizes Mission Heart’s commitment to implementing a higher standard of care for acute heart attack patients. It signifies that Mission Heart has reached an aggressive goal of treating these patients to standard levels of care as outlined by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) clinical guidelines and recommendations.

To receive the ACTION Registry–GWTG Platinum Performance Achievement Award, Mission Heart consistently followed the treatment guidelines in the ACTION Registry – GWTG Premier for eight consecutive quarters (equivalent to two years) and met a performance standard of 90 percent for specific performance measures. Following these treatment guidelines improves adherence to ACC/AHA Clinical Guideline recommendations, monitors drug safety and the overall quality of care provided to ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and non- ST- elevation myocardial infarction patients (NSTEMI).

“This achievement clearly demonstrates our continuous commitment to delivering world-class care,” said William Maddox, MD, Medical Director of Asheville Cardiology Associates. “Our goal has always been to provide better and faster care for acute heart attack patients. With programs like RACE, our collaboration with regional emergency rooms, regional hospital physicians and the work of our regional EMS systems, catheterization lab personnel and nurses, our processes are stronger and faster, allowing for better outcomes. We have worked hard to achieve this level of care, and we will continue to improve the health and well-being of the people of western North Carolina.”

ACTION Registry–GWTG is a partnership between the American College of Cardiology Foundation and the American Heart Association with partnering support from the American College of Emergency Physicians, Society of Chest Pain Centers and the Society of Hospital Medicine. 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 STEMI and NSTEMI patients.

“The American College of Cardiology Foundation and the American Heart Association commend Mission Heart for its success in implementing standards of care and protocols. The full implementation of acute and secondary prevention guideline-recommended therapy is a critical step in saving the lives and improving outcomes of heart attack patients,” said Gregg C. Fonarow, MD, FACC, FAHA, ACTION Registry-GWTG Steering Committee Chair and Director of Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center and James Jollis, MD, FACC, ACTION Registry-GWTG Co-Chair and Professor of Medicine and Radiology at Duke University Hospital in a joint statement.

About Mission Health

Mission Health, based in Asheville, N.C., is the state’s sixth-largest health system and the region’s only not-for-profit, independent community hospital system governed and managed exclusively in western North Carolina. In 2012 Mission Health was named one of the nation’s Top 15 Health Systems by Thomson Reuters – the only health system in North Carolina to receive this recognition.

Mission Health, which traces its roots in the region back to 1885, operates five hospitals, numerous outpatient and surgery centers, and the region’s only dedicated Level II trauma center. Its medical staff consists of more than 1,000 physicians and is certified in over 50 medical specialties and sub-specialties. Mission Health has seven Centers of Excellence: Cancer, Heart, Mission Children’s Hospital, Neurosciences, Orthopedics, Trauma and Women’s Health. Mission Hospital, located in Asheville, is the system’s flagship hospital and is licensed for 730 beds. It is the regional referral center for tertiary and quaternary care and is the busiest surgical hospital in North Carolina. It also includes Mission Children’s Hospital– the region’s only children’s hospital. Other Mission Health member hospitals include Angel Medical Center in Franklin, Blue Ridge Regional Hospital in Spruce Pine, McDowell Hospital in Marion and Transylvania Regional Hospital in Brevard. With approximately 8,800 employees and 700 volunteers, Mission Health is dedicated to improving the health and wellness of the people of western North Carolina.

Subscribe to XpressMail. Free Sneak Peek. Every Week.

Want to know what's coming out in Xpress this week before the paper even hits the stands? We've got your free sneak peek, along with deals available in XpressMail, our weekly email newsletter. (It's the best we can do without time travel.)

Name:
Email:

We respect your email privacy. More information.