CarolinaEast Medical Center Among Nation's Top Performing Hospitals for Treatment of Heart Attack Patients

American College of Cardiology NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Platinum Award recognizes sustained, high level performance in quality care

NEW BERN, N.C., May 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- CarolinaEast Medical Center has received the American College of Cardiology's NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2022. CarolinaEast is one of only 240 hospitals nationwide to receive this honor. The award recognizes CarolinaEast's commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies that CarolinaEast has reached an aggressive goal of treating these patients.

The Centers for Disease Control estimates that over 800,000 Americans suffer a heart attack each year. A heart attack occurs when a blood clot in a coronary artery partially or completely blocks blood flow to the heart muscle. Treatment guidelines include administering aspirin upon arrival and discharge, timely restoration of blood flow to the blocked artery, smoking cessation counseling and cardiac rehabilitation, among others.

"It is an honor to award CarolinaEast with the Platinum Performance Award for their valuable national leadership and dedication to meeting comprehensive performance measures in patient care," said Michael C. Kontos, MD, FACC, chair of the NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Steering Subcommittee, and cardiologist at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. "The receipt of this award indicates that CarolinaEast remains committed to providing top quality, guideline-driven care for heart attack patients. Their success ensures patients are receiving the highest quality cardiovascular care."

To receive the Chest Pain  ̶  MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award, CarolinaEast has demonstrated sustained achievement in the Chest Pain  ̶  MI Registry for two consecutive years (2020 and 2021), and performed at the highest level for specific performance measures. Full participation in the registry engages hospitals in a robust quality improvement process using data to drive improvements in adherence to guideline recommendations and overall quality of care provided to heart attack patients.

Chest Pain  ̶  MI Registry empowers health care provider teams to consistently treat heart attack patients according to the most current, science-based guidelines and establishes a national standard for understanding and improving the quality, safety and outcomes of care provided for patients with coronary artery disease, specifically high-risk heart attack patients.

"We are very pleased to have obtained this exemplary distinction due to the continued integrative efforts of our cardiovascular team," said Dr. Laurance Farmer, Cardiologist and Chest Pain Center Medical Director at CarolinaEast. "This recognition demonstrates CarolinaEast's dedication to providing high quality, evidenced-based care to all members of our community."

CarolinaEast also boasts an American College of Cardiology accredited Chest Pain Center, HeartCARE Center, Cath Lab and Heart Failure program. For more information, visit acc.org.

About CarolinaEast Medical Center

CarolinaEast Health System has been serving the growing needs of the coastal North Carolina community since 1963. In addition to the system's flagship, 350 bed CarolinaEast Medical Center, CarolinaEast includes a rehabilitation hospital, free- standing surgery center, the SECU Comprehensive Cancer Center, and numerous CarolinaEast Physician practices providing primary and specialty care for all phases of life from offices in four counties.

Contact:
Brandy Popp, Director, Public Relations
CarolinaEast Health System
252-633-8154
[email protected]

SOURCE CarolinaEast Health System