ARLINGTON, Texas — With heart disease deaths on the rise across the nation, Texas Health Resources is addressing the concern with quality, science-based guidelines for treating heart attack patients. And four wholly-owned Texas Health hospitals have earned the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Performance Achievement Award.

The national award recognizes a facility’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for patients suffering a heart attack, which is when a blood clot in a coronary artery blocks blood flow to the heart. The award also signifies that each facility has reached an aggressive goal of treating patients to standard levels of care as outlined by the American College of Cardiology/ American Heart Association clinical guidelines and recommendations. Specific guidelines include administering aspirin upon arrival and discharge, timely restoration of blood flow to a blocked artery, smoking cessation counseling and cardiac rehabilitation.

According to a study published by the National Vital Statics Reports, heart disease death rates increased by four percent, between 2011 and 2017.

“That’s a trend we want to see diminish quickly,” said Lenetra King, Texas Health’s interim Program Development & Integration chief operating officer. “In fact, every 40 seconds someone in the United States has a heart attack. We’re on a mission to empower our clinical care teams to consistently treat heart attack patients with science-based guidelines so quality cardiac care is provided to North Texans, each and every day.”

The performance award has three specific categories, with Platinum being the highest form of recognition:

• Platinum: Eight consecutive quarters performing at the top level of standards for specific performance measures (the most comprehensive monitoring tool and the highest level of participation for performance improvement and performance achievement)
• Gold: Eight consecutive quarters performing at the top level of standards for specific performance measures (limited data collection designed for hospitals unable to participate in the full data analysis)
• Silver: Four consecutive quarters performing at the top level of standards for specific performance measures

With more than 10 facilities recognized in North Texas this year, six of those recipients are Texas Health hospitals and joint ventures located in Arlington, Bedford, Dallas and Plano:

• Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst-Euless-Bedford – Platinum Performance Achievement Award
• Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas — Platinum Performance Achievement Award
• Texas Health Heart & Vascular Hospital Arlington (joint venture) — Silver Performance Achievement Award
• Texas Health Huguley Hospital (joint venture) — Silver Performance Achievement Award
• Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Denton — Silver Performance Achievement Award
• Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano — Silver Performance Achievement Award

“For a health care system to be successful, it’s not about the accolades,” said Jeffery Canose, M.D., Texas Health’s chief operating officer. “The recognition is definitely appreciated; but offering patients and their loved ones quality and customized service is the goal. Providing patients with the necessary resources so they can get back to enjoying life as quickly as possible is the motivating factor.”

A complete list of this year’s recipients will be highlighted in the October issue of US News and World Report’s “Best Hospitals’ edition. To learn more about customized treatment options at various Texas Health facilities, please click on heart and vascular services.