ENGLEWOOD, N.J., Sept. 10 /PRNewswire/ — Englewood Hospital and Medical Center was among the top three hospitals in the U.S. for the lowest heart attack mortality rate, according to new government data. According to newly released statistics from the Center for Medicare Services (CMS), heart attack patients with Medicare coverage who received treatment at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center had a better chance of surviving over a 30-day period than those treated at any other hospital in New Jersey. According to the data, Englewood Hospital’s 30-day mortality rate for heart attack patients was 12.4 percent–significantly better than the national average of 16.1 percent cited by the Medicare study.
“Our exceptional interventional cardiology team provides exemplary treatment to heart attack patients,” said Richard Goldweit, MD, FACC, Chief of Cardiology and Director of Interventional Cardiology for Englewood Hospital and Medical Center. “Our door-to-balloon time–the time it takes from when a patient arrives at the hospital to when a coronary intervention is performed to open the arteries–is currently 55 minutes and continues to go down. That’s significantly below the 90-minute timeframe recommended by the government.”
The door-to-balloon (DTB) metric is crucial in measuring cardiac care quality and translates into higher survival rates and improved quality of life. “Time is muscle,” noted Dr. Goldweit. “The quicker you restore blood flow and open the artery, the less damage there will be to the heart.”
The one-month mortality statistic–which is the most important measure of clinical performance for the patient–reflects well on all involved with the care of heart attack patients at Englewood Hospital, from the highly qualified paramedics and Emergency Department staff to the catheterization laboratory staff, non-invasive cardiology and cardiac rehabilitation, Dr. Goldweit pointed out.
“For instance, the paramedics in our mobile intensive care units and the care providers in our Emergency Department are experts in quickly recognizing the signs of heart attack and responding accordingly, even when a patient’s symptoms may not be ones generally associated with a heart attack,” said Dr. Goldweit. “That helps get the patient to us faster–a critical factor in achieving a successful outcome.”
In addition, highly qualified nursing teams in the Medical Center’s intensive care cardiovascular unit and step-down unit provide individualized care to patients during their hospital stay. They also clearly communicate to patients the appropriate ongoing drug therapy, lifestyle changes and follow-up care needed to enhance survival after discharge.
“The efforts of our interventional cardiology team result in nearly a 25% reduction in the risk of death compared to the national average,” said Dr. Goldweit. “We’re very proud of the high level of cardiac care we offer, but we’re never satisfied to stay with the status quo. We engage in an ongoing process of improvement that involves analyzing feedback on how we’re performing, evaluating the latest research and studies on developments in cardiac care, and acting on that information to continually improve and stay on the cutting edge of advancements. Our well-attended weekly cardiology conference is one reflection of this effort.”
“All of us at the Medical Center are very proud of this national recognition by CMS,” said Douglas A. Duchak, President and CEO of Englewood Hospital and Medical Center. “This data is one of many yardsticks confirming our hospital’s outstanding performance in carrying out our mission of providing world-class medical care to the communities we serve.”
The Medical Center’s interventional cardiologists are part of the hospital’s comprehensive Heart & Vascular Institute of New Jersey, which also includes General Cardiology, Electrophysiology, Cardiac Surgery, Vascular Surgery, and Cardiac Rehabilitation.
The data for the CMS study was collected on Medicare patients discharged between July 2006 and June 2007. The government released the statistics as part of a first-ever accounting of mortality rates at thousands of hospitals across the U.S.
A searchable database of hospital mortality rates is available at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Hospital Compare website at http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/hospital/mortalitytool.
Englewood Hospital & Medical Center
CONTACT: Cynthia Valentino, Englewood Hospital and Medical Center,+1-201-894-3486, [email protected]
Web Site: hhtp://www.englewoodhospital.comhttp://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/hospital/mortalitytool
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