Baptist Health Paducah among Nation's Top Performing Hospitals for treatment of heart attack patients

PADUCAH, KY - (July 22, 2024 – Heart attack treatment at Baptist Health Paducah has been recognized since 2012 among the nation’s best by the American College of Cardiology. Baptist Health is one of only 262 hospitals nationwide to receive the NCDR® (National Cardiovascular Data Registry) Chest Pain-MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award.

The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients as outlined by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association clinical guidelines and recommendations.

“Baptist Health Paducah aims to provide the best care to our community,” said Amy Osbron, Chest Pain-STEMI Coordinator at Baptist Health Paducah. “This award displays all of the hard work our staff and chest pain team demonstrates each day. Our goal continues to be keeping the best cardiac services close to home.”

To receive the award, the hospital followed treatment guidelines and performed at the top level of standards 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.

“It is an honor to award Baptist Health Paducah 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 Baptist Health Paducah remains committed to providing top quality, guideline-driven care for heart attack patients. Their success ensures patients are receiving the highest quality cardiovascular care.”

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.

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.