ARLINGTON, Texas — With heart disease being the leading cause of death in the United States, Texas Health Resources is addressing the problem with quality, science-based guidelines for treating heart attack patients. This focus on quality care helped five Texas Health facilities earn the American College of Cardiology’s National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) Chest Pain – MI Registry Performance Achievement Award.

The national award annually recognizes hospitals that provide a high 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.

“When it comes to effectively and compassionately addressing the needs of patients and their loved ones, it’s not about the accolades,” said Kirk King, Texas Health’s executive vice president and hospital channel chief operating officer. “It’s always a welcomed and pleasant surprise, but our motivating factor is providing patients with the necessary resources to get them back to enjoying life as quickly as possible.”

The award also confirms that the recognized facility has reached an aggressive goal of treating patients as outlined by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association clinical guidelines and recommendations. Detailed guidelines include giving aspirin to patients upon arrival and discharge in the ER, timely restoration of blood flow to a blocked artery, smoking cessation counseling and cardiac rehabilitation.

According to statistics published by the American Heart Association, more than 365,900 Americans died of heart disease in 2017. During that year, more than 45,000 Texans lost their battle against heart disease.

Texas Health leaders say the COVID-19 pandemic has only heightened their commitment to the care of cardiac patients and doing so in a safe way. They said no one should avoid going to the hospital if they think they’re having an emergency.

“As the nation continues to address COVID-19, we don’t want North Texans ignoring serious medical conditions, such as heart attacks,” said Lenetra King, Texas Health’s Program Development & Integration chief operating officer. “We don’t want people losing their lives out of fear of their outside surroundings. Strict COVID-19 guidelines are in place at all Texas Health facilities, and we’re on a mission to empower our clinical care teams to consistently treat heart attack patients with science-based guidelines. Despite a viral pandemic, we’re committed to providing North Texans with quality cardiac care, each and every day.”

With more than 300 facilities recognized across the country this year (with Platinum serving as the highest level)*, five of those recipients are Texas Health hospitals located throughout North Texas:

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

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

* The performance award has four 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 with distinction for specific performance measures
• Bronze: eight consecutive quarters (2017 to 2018) performing with distinction for specific performance measures and achieving performance measures during the 2019 reporting cycle