Moses Cone Hospital Has Lowest Heart Attack Readmission Rate in the Nation

Consistency is the secret to high-quality care

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Jul 07, 2016, 12:59 ET

GREENSBORO, N.C., July 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- "If you've been treated at a hospital for a heart attack, the last thing you want is to be readmitted for recurring symptoms or complications," says Moses Cone Hospital's Director of Quality and Chief of LeBauer Cardiovascular Research Foundation Thomas Stuckey, MD. For people treated at The Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital in Greensboro, North Carolina, the chances of readmission within 30 days are less likely than at any other hospital in the nation. Moses Cone Hospital has the lowest readmission rate for heart attack patients in the U.S. This is according to data from more than 4,000 hospitals published on the U.S. government's Hospital Compare website.

Video on the importance of repeating healthy heart messages and being consistent in doing so. This approach allows patients to comprehend and take action to avoid readmission after heart attack.

Hospital Compare provides the most current data on readmission rates for heart attack patients across the country. Moses Cone Hospital has the nation's lowest at 13.3 percent. The national average is 17 percent. Heart care at Moses Cone Hospital is provided at The Cone Health Heart and Vascular Center.

"We believe the key to our low readmission rate for heart attack patients is a collaborative, team-based approach," says Cone Health Medical Group HeartCare Chief and Cone Health Cardiovascular Service Line Chief Jake Hochrein, MD. "It begins with excellent initial care with guideline-directed therapies."

Hochrein adds that the real secret is consistency. Rehabilitation begins the day of or the day after the heart attack. Patients work with therapists, nutritionists, nurses and doctors. They hear the same messages about heart health. "We keep it simple and everyone sings from the same hymnal," adds Hochrein. Care continues through an ongoing partnership once patients are discharged.

"This number one ranking is highly significant because it requires excellence in many aspects of care," says Stuckey. "Cone Health's leadership in achieving the nation's lowest readmission rate for heart attack patients is the result of our network's focus on being one of the nation's very best providers of exceptional care."

Moses Cone Hospital is one of Healthgrades America's 100 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Care™ in 2016. CareChex®—a division of Comparion®—ranks Cone Health among the nation's top 100 hospitals for medical excellence in cardiac care, heart attack treatment and major cardiac surgery in 2016. It also recognizes Cone Health as a leader in patient safety. Learn more at conehealth.com/heart.

Cone Health is committed to being a national leader in quality, service and cost. The integrated health care network consists of Alamance Regional Medical Center, Annie Penn Hospital, Cone Health Behavioral Health Hospital, The Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital, Wesley Long Hospital, Women's Hospital, Cone Health Medical Group, MedCenter High Point, MedCenter Kernersville, MedCenter Mebane, Triad HealthCare Network and various outpatient clinics and programs. More than 11,000 exceptional people provide exceptional care to the people of Guilford, Alamance, Rockingham, Forsyth, Caswell and Randolph counties.