Washington Regional Among Nation's Top Hospitals for Heart Attack Treatment
Washington Regional Medical Center has received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2024. Washington Regional is one of only 259 hospitals nationwide and five hospitals in the state to receive the honor.
The award recognizes Washington Regional’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies that Washington Regional 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.
“Earning the Platinum Achievement Award, the highest level possible, honors the dedicated health care professionals within Washington Regional’s Walker Heart Institute, Emergency Department and other departments who are committed to providing nationally recognized, high-quality care to patients here in Northwest Arkansas,” said Washington Regional President and CEO Larry Shackelford. “This award highlights our dedication to improving the health of people in the communities we serve and lets our community know that Washington Regional is ready to care for them with the region’s highest level of cardiovascular care.”
To receive the Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award, Washington Regional demonstrated sustained achievement in the Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry for two consecutive years and performed at the highest level for 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 Washington Regional with the Platinum 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 Washington Regional 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. Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry 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.