Doylestown Hospital Receives Chest Pain Center Accreditation

Highest Quality Cardiac Care Close to Home

Continuing a tradition of excellence in cardiac care, Doylestown Hospital has received accreditation as a Chest Pain Center from the Society of Chest Pain Centers.  For patients in our local community, that designation signifies the highest quality care close to home. Accreditation is granted for three years.

Nationally, more than 5 million people enter the hospital with chest pain each year. An accredited Chest Pain Center is more than facility-it is a process that starts from the time a patient activates emergency medical services to the time that patient is discharged. When seconds count, the more quickly a patient receives the right treatment, the better the outcome.

 "There is a great deal of evidence that patients get better care, move through the system quicker and generally have better outcomes with an accredited Chest Pain Center," said John Mitchell, Director of Cardiovascular Services for the Heart Institute of Doylestown Hospital.

As a Chest Pain Center, Doylestown Hospital is best equipped to treat patients with acute coronary syndromes and heart failure that may require emergency angioplasty (used during a heart attack to restore blood flow through a clogged coronary artery by inflating a tiny balloon in it). Doylestown Hospital consistently has a "door-to-balloon time"* of 65 minutes, much less than the American Heart Association recommended 90 minutes. By receiving accreditation from the Society of Chest Pain Centers, Doylestown Hospital has met rigorous standards of care and demonstrated best practices in protocol-driven services. The accreditation confirms Doylestown Hospital's commitment to offer each patient superior care with a team approach that includes emergency medical services, the Emergency Department, cardiologists and nursing staff.

"The accreditation proves that, at the staff level, excellent coordination and teamwork are really the key to achieving outstanding patient outcomes," said David Boland, MD, Medical Director of the Woodall Chest Pain Center of Doylestown Hospital.
 
Doylestown Hospital has consistently been recognized for the quality of its cardiac care services. The hospital is ranked in the Top 10 Percent nationally for overall cardiac services, coronary interventions, and cardiac surgery by HealthGrades(r), the leading independent healthcare ratings company. Doylestown Hospital is also five-star rated (the highest rating) for treatment of heart attack and treatment of heart failure three years in a row. 

"Being an accredited Chest Pain Center validates the exemplary care that we provide for our cardiac patients and highlights the overall quality of our heart program," said Woodall Chest Pain Center Coordinator Jenn Harrar, RN, BSN.

Once Doylestown Hospital's new Emergency Department is completed (estimated April 2010), the accredited Woodall Chest Pain Center will occupy eight of the 39 new treatment rooms. It will be staffed by ED nurses specially trained in cardiac care. Having designated resources of personnel, protocols, physical space and equipment for these patients offers multiple benefits for both patients and hospital. These include decreasing unnecessary admissions of low-risk patients, while minimizing the rare occurrence of missed diagnosis of acute coronary syndromes. 
 


*Door-to-balloon time is defined as the time between a patient's arrival at the hospital to the time he or she receives emergency angioplasty.