American College of Cardiology NCDR Chest Pain - MI Registry Silver Performance Achievement Award recognizes sustained, high level performance in quality of care.
The University of Tennessee Medical Center’s (UTMC) Heart Lung Vascular Institute has received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry Silver Performance Achievement Award for 2023. UTMC is one of only 82 hospitals nationwide to receive the honor.
The award recognizes UTMC’s Heart Lung Vascular Institute’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies that the Heart Lung Vascular Institute at UTMC 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 clinical guidelines and recommendations.
To receive the Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry Silver Performance Achievement Award, UTMC has demonstrated sustained achievement in the Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry for four consecutive quarters during 2022 and performed with distinction in specific performance measures. 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.
“It is an honor to award The University of Tennessee Medical Center’s Heart Lung Vascular Institute with the Silver Performance Award for their valuable national leadership and dedication to meeting comprehensive performance measures in patient care,” said Michael C. Kontos, MD, FACC, chair of the NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Steering Subcommittee, and cardiologist at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. “The receipt of this award indicates that UTMC’s Heart Lung Vascular Institute remains committed to providing top quality, guideline-driven care for heart attack patients. Their success ensures patients are receiving the highest quality cardiovascular care.”
The Centers for Disease Control estimates that over 800,000 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.
“The receipt of this award speaks volumes about the processes we have put in place here at The University of Tennessee Medical Center to treat heart attack patients,” said Paul Branca, MD, critical care specialist and Vice President of the Heart Lung Vascular Institute at UTMC. “This is a testament to our staff and physicians who provide top-quality cardiovascular care in our region.”
Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry empowers healthcare 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.