Desert Springs Earns Chest Pain Center Accreditation with PCI

The hospital was the first in Nevada to receive accreditation from the Society of Chest Pain Centers in 2006 and this new accreditation includes meeting additional standards related to providing cardiac patients with a balloon or stent to open blocked coronary arteries.

"Desert Springs Hospital is pleased to receive this recognition that confirms our commitment to meeting high cardiac care standards for our patients," Hospital CEO Sam Kaufman said. "For years Desert Springs has been known as 'The Heart Hospital' by Southern Nevadans and we view this accreditation as another step toward achieving excellence."

Heart attacks are the leading cause of death in the United States, with 600,000 dying annually of heart disease. More than five million Americans visit hospitals each year with chest pain. The goal of the Society of Chest Pain Centers is to significantly reduce the mortality rate of these patients by teaching the public to recognize and react to the early symptoms of a possible heart attack, reduce the time that it takes to receive treatment, and increase the accuracy and effectiveness of treatment.

The Chest Pain Center's protocol driven and systematic approach to patient management allows physicians to reduce time to treatment during the critical early stages of a heart attack, when treatments are most effective, and to better monitor patients when it is not clear whether they are having a coronary event. Such observation helps ensure that a patient is neither sent home too early nor needlessly admitted.

With the rise of Chest Pain Centers came the need to establish standards designed to improve the consistency and quality of care provided to patients. The society's accreditation process ensures that centers meet or exceed quality-of-care measures in acute cardiac medicine.

The Chest Pain Observation Unit at Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center has demonstrated its expertise and commitment to quality patient care by meeting or exceeding a wide set of stringent criteria and completing on-site evaluations by a review team from the Society of Chest Pain Centers. Key areas in which a chest pain center must demonstrate expertise include:

• Integrating the emergency department with the local emergency medical system
• Assessing, diagnosing and treating patients quickly
• Effectively treating patients with low risk for acute coronary syndrome and no assignable cause for their symptoms
• Continually seeking to improve processes and procedures
• Ensuring competency and training of chest pain center personnel
• Maintaining organizational structure and commitment
• Having a functional design that promotes optimal patient care
• Supporting community outreach programs that educate the public to promptly seek medical care if they display symptoms of a possible heart attack

About Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center
Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center, a 286-bed acute care facility located in southeast Las Vegas, has been providing quality healthcare to the residents of Southern Nevada since 1971. The hospital is part of the Valley Health System and has been referred to as the "Heart Hospital" by longtime residents for its solid reputation as a leader in cardiac care. Desert Springs is one of the first Nevada hospitals to be nationally accredited by the Society of Chest Pain Centers. It also is home to the Center for Surgical Weight Loss, which is nationally accredited as a "Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence" by the American Society for Bariatric Surgery. The Diabetes Treatment Center at Desert Springs Hospital offers personalized inpatient and outpatient treatment and education. The American Diabetes Association recognizes this education service as meeting the national standards for diabetes self-management education. Desert Springs Hospital was the first hospital in the United States to receive The Joint Commission's certification for advanced inpatient diabetes care.

About the Society of Chest Pain Centers (SCPC)
The Society of Chest Pain Centers is a patient-centric, nonprofit, international, professional organization focused upon improving care for patients with acute coronary syndromes and other related maladies. Established in 1998, the society is dedicated to patient advocacy and a focus on ischemic heart disease. Central to its mission is the question, "What is right for the patient?" In answer, the society promotes protocol-based medicine, often delivered through a chest pain center model to address the diagnosis and treatment of acute coronary syndromes, heart failure and to promote the adoption of process improvement science by healthcare providers. To best fulfill this mission, the Society of Chest Pain Centers provides accreditation to facilities striving for optimum chest pain center care. SCPC is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. For more information on the Society of Chest Pain Centers, visit www.scpcp.org or contact Robert Lipetz, Executive Director at (614) 442-5950 or via email.