Cardiovascular diseases claim more lives each year than all forms of cancer and chronic lower respiratory disease combined, according to the American Heart Association. With heart disease on the rise, Texas Health is committed to providing quality heart attack care in the communities we serve. This means meeting stringent standards and following strict guidelines established by organizations like the American Heart Association and The Joint Commission in order to improve quality of care and outcomes in heart attack patients. It also means effective and constant communication in the field with first responders to achieve accurate heart attack diagnoses and being prepared for patients even before they enter through our hospital doors.

Recognition for Quality Heart Attack Care

We are honored that Texas Health Fort Worth was the first hospital in the nation to receive Primary Heart Attack Center certification from The Joint Commission in 2019, with several Texas Health hospitals and a joint venture following with their certifications.

Key characteristics of the Primary Heart Attack Center Program include:

• Focusing on symptom onset and first medical contact (pre-hospital and upon arrival), emergency medical services, catheterization laboratories and inpatient settings
• Providing continuous on-site PCI coverage for STEMI patients
• Keeping door-to-balloon (D2B) times within 90 minutes or less, per guidelines from the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association

Texas Health Dallas has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval^® and the American Heart Association’s Heart-Check mark for Comprehensive Heart Attack Center Certification and is the first facility in Texas and the fourth hospital in the nation to receive this level of certification.

Key characteristics of the Comprehensive Heart Attack Center Program include:

• Meeting several performance measures, including administering an electrocardiogram within 10 minutes of a patient’s arrival. The non-invasive diagnostic test evaluates the heart's electrical system to check for disease
• Providing continuous on-site PPCI coverage, along with offering a multidisciplinary approach to treating critically ill patients (i.e., patients suffering from cardiogenic shock and cardiac arrest)
• Keeping door-to-balloon (D2B) times within 90 minutes or less, per guidelines from the American College of Cardiology

The door-to-balloon time references the critical moments between a patient’s arrival at the hospital to when they undergo a PCI procedure in the cardiac catheterization lab and blood flow is restored to the patient’s heart when a tiny balloon on the end of the catheter is inflated, pushing open the clogged artery.

Comprehensive Heart Attack Centers