Chest pain is the #1 reason people call for emergency medical help
Frisco--It's the middle of the night or maybe the beginning of a busy workday when you suddenly feel pain in your chest. You try to ignore it at first, but your chest pain has you scared and worried. Could you be having a heart attack? Should you go to the emergency room?
“Fortunately, chest pain doesn't always signal a heart attack. Often chest pain is unrelated to any heart problem. But even if the chest pain you experience has nothing to do with your cardiovascular system, the problem may still be important — and worth the time spent in an emergency room to have your chest pain evaluated,” stresses David Arai, M.D., Director of the Emergency Department at Centennial Medical Center.
Because the medical management of chest pain is critical, Centennial Medical Center has demonstrated its expertise and commitment to quality patient care by meeting or exceeding a wide set of stringent criteria and on-site evaluations by a review team from the Society of Chest Pain Centers. Centennial received full accreditation status from the Accreditation Review Committee on March 2, 2007. Accreditation expires March 1, 2010
Heart attacks are the leading cause of death in the United States, with 600,000 dying annually of heart disease. More than five million Americans visit hospitals each year with chest pain. The goal of the Society of Chest Pain Centers is to significantly reduce the mortality rate of these patients by teaching the public to recognize and react to the early symptoms of a possible heart attack, reduce the time that it takes to receive treatment, and increase the accuracy and effectiveness of treatment.
“The Chest Pain Center’s protocol driven and systematic approach to patient management allows our physicians to reduce time to treatment during the critical early stages of a heart attack, when treatments are most effective, and to better monitor patients when it is not clear whether they are having a coronary event,” states Todd Baxter, RN, MHA, CEN, Director of Emergency Services for Centennial Medical Center. “Such observation helps ensure that a patient is neither sent home too early nor needlessly admitted.”
With the rise of Chest Pain Centers came the need to establish standards designed to improve the consistency and quality of care provided to patients. The Society’s accreditation process insures centers meet or exceed quality-of-care measures in acute cardiac medicine. Key areas in which Centennial Medical Center’s Chest Pain Center demonstrated expertise include:
• Integrating the emergency department with the local emergency medical system
• Assessing, diagnosing, and treating patients quickly
• Effectively treating patients with low risk for acute coronary syndrome and no assignable cause for their symptoms
• Continually seeking to improve processes and procedures
• Ensuring Chest Pain Center personnel competency and training
• Maintaining organizational structure and commitment
• Having a functional design that promotes optimal patient care
• Supporting community outreach programs that educate the public to
“Centennial Medical Center’s Chest Pain Center Accreditation confirms our commitment to the highest quality of patient care, as well as our dedication to constantly expanding and improving our healthcare services,” said Bill Henning, CEO of Centennial Medical Center.
ABOUT CENTENNIAL MEDICAL CENTER
Centennial Medical Center, part of Tenet Texas, is a 118-bed acute care facility located at 12505 Lebanon Road in Frisco, Texas. Centennial Medical Center began serving the community in June 2004. The hospital provides a wide spectrum of medical services, including a 21-bed emergency department, a 12-bed Intensive Care Unit, women's services, 12-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, nursery, diagnostic imaging department, four operating rooms, physical therapy and telemetry. Centennial Medical Center also provides a number of specialty services such as cardiology, open heart and vascular surgery, neurosurgery and neurology, orthopedics, gastrointestinal disease, oncology, infectious disease, general surgery, ear nose and throat, pulmonary medicine, urology, obstetrics, pediatrics, women's services, and neonatal and perinatal services. Centennial Medical Center is accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the nation's oldest and largest hospital accreditation agency. To learn more about Centennial Medical Center, visit www.centennialmedcenter.com.
About the Society of Chest Pain Centers (SCPC)
The Society of Chest Pain Centers is a patient centric non-profit international professional organization focused upon improving care for patients with acute coronary syndromes and other related maladies. Established in 1998, the Society is dedicated to patient advocacy and focusing on ischemic heart disease. Central to its mission is the question, “What is right for the patient?” In answer, the Society promotes protocol-based medicine, often delivered through a Chest Pain Center model to address the diagnosis and treatment of acute coronary syndromes, heart failure, and to promote the adoption of process improvement science by healthcare providers. To best fulfill this mission, the Society of Chest Pain Centers provides accreditation to facilities striving for optimum Chest Pain Center care. SCPC is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.
For more information on the Society of Chest Pain Centers visit www.scpcp.org, or contact Robert Lipetz, Executive Director at (614) 442-5950 or director@scpcp.org.