Lane Regional Medical Center has earned full accreditation with PCI (Percutaneous Coronary Intervention) from the American College of Cardiology (ACC).
By receiving ACC Chest Pain Center with Primary PCI Accreditation, Lane has achieved a higher level of expertise in treating patients who arrive with symptoms of a heart attack, 24/7 every day of the year. It has streamlined its systems from admission to evaluation to diagnosis and treatment all the way through to appropriate post-discharge care.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 730,000 Americans suffer a heart attack each year. The most common symptom of a heart attack for both men and women is chest pain or discomfort. However, women are more likely to have atypical symptoms. Other heart attack symptoms include, but are not limited to, tingling or discomfort in one or both arms, back, shoulder, neck or jaw, shortness of breath, cold sweat, unusual tiredness, heartburn-like feeling, nausea or vomiting, sudden dizziness and fainting.
To become an Accredited Chest Pain Center, Lane Regional Medical Center engaged in a rigorous onsite evaluation of the staff’s ability to evaluate, diagnose and treat patients who may be experiencing a heart attack. This means processes are in place that meet strict criteria aimed at:
- Reducing the time from onset of symptoms to diagnosis and treatment
- Treating patients more quickly during the critical window of time when the integrity of the heart muscle can be preserved
- Monitoring patients when it is not certain that they are having a heart attack to ensure that they are not sent home too quickly or needlessly admitted to the hospital
PCI, commonly known as angioplasty, is a non-surgical procedure that opens narrowed or blocked coronary arteries with a balloon to relieve symptoms of heart disease or reduce heart damage during or after a heart attack. These narrowed segments are due to the buildup of the cholesterol-laden plaques that form because of the thickening of the artery wall that restricts blood flow to the heart.
The team at Lane Regional Medical Center earns high marks with 100% of acute myocardial infarction patients receiving PCI treatment with an average door-to-balloon time of 30 minutes or less. The national average is 90 minutes or less.
Door-to-balloon time is a quality measure indicating the amount of time between a heart attack patient's arrival at the emergency room to the time that patient’s blocked artery is reopened in the catheterization lab.
“People tend to wait when they think they may be having a heart attack, and that’s a mistake,” says Laura Peel, Director of Lane Cardiovascular Center. “The average patient arrives in the ER more than two hours after the onset of symptoms, but what they don’t realize is that the sooner a heart attack is treated, the less damage to the heart and the better outcome for the patient.”
During PCI, an interventional cardiologist feeds a deflated balloon or other device on a catheter from the radial (wrist) artery or femoral (groin) artery up through blood vessels until they reach the site of blockage in the heart. X-ray imaging is used to guide the catheter threading. At the blockage, the balloon is inflated to open the artery, allowing blood to flow. A stent is often placed at the site of blockage to permanently open the artery and restore blood flow to the heart.
Lane Regional Medical Center leads the way in cardiac care in the region with the latest cath lab equipment and technology, as well as a partnership with the region’s leading cardiovascular specialists at Cardiovascular Institute of the South.
About the American College of Cardiology
The American College of Cardiology is the professional home for the entire cardiovascular care team. The mission of the College and its more than 52,000 members is to transform cardiovascular care and to improve heart health. The ACC leads in the formation of health policy, standards and guidelines. The College operates national registries to measure and improve care, offers cardiovascular accreditation to hospitals and institutions, provides professional medical education, disseminates cardiovascular research and bestows credentials upon cardiovascular specialists who meet stringent qualifications.
For more information about ACC Accreditation Services, visit accreditation.acc.org, or call toll-free 1-877-271-4176.
