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Awards
Heart Attack Program Wins State-Wide RecognitionAllentown, PA (June 9, 2006)Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network (LVHHN) received three (of a possible six) 2006 Achievement Awards from the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) at the Leadership Summit on May 22, 2006. LVHHN’s Regional MI Alert program won both the Patient Care and Innovation awards while the Cardio Thoracic Length-of-Stay Improvement Team received the Operational Excellence for reducing lengths of stay and improving patient care and satisfaction. The only hospital in the state to win multiple awards, LVHHN also was the sole winner of the new HAP Innovation Award.The Regional MI Alert program is a partnership between LVHHN and Gnaden Huetten, Palmerton and Hazleton hospitals, as well as Lehighton and Hazleton emergency medical service (EMS) providers, and Lehigh Valley Hospital’s MedEvac service. The program goal is to save lives by providing rapid balloon angioplasty -- the gold standard of care -- to victims of the most severe type of heart attack, ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI). Acute MI (myocardial infarction) is the leading cause of death in the U.S. adult population, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and in the region. Balloon angioplasty has been shown to be the optimal treatment for STEMI to open narrow or blocked blood vessels in the heart. Unfortunately less than 25 percent of hospitals in the U.S. have the resources and capability to perform balloon angioplasty on-site. The Regional MI Alert enables hospitals, without internal capabilities, to quickly identify STEMI patients and transfer them to a partner hospital with the resources and ability to provide optimal treatment. Getting the vessel opened quickly is critical to preventing heart damage and death. The Regional MI Alert program is the expansion of a successful internal program, MI Alert, developed by LVHHN in 2000. The Lehigh Valley Hospital MI Alert program involved close collaboration between cardiology and emergency medicine and provided 24/7 balloon angioplasty treatment for all acute MI patients. The program goal was to provide door-to-balloon times of 90 minutes or less. In 2004, LVHHN took the successful MI Alert program to outlying community hospitals without internal balloon angioplasty capabilities. LVHHN worked closely with the partner hospitals and EMS providers to develop standard protocols; to coordinate communications between transport, physicians and labs; to implement treatment algorithms; and to develop standards for resource utilization. In one study, the mean door-to-balloon times were reduced 61%. Working together, LVHHN and the three partner hospitals have been able to improve the options and outcomes of a significantly larger population base. The Regional MI Alert program is about streamlining processes and improving communications. “We can now issue a MI Alert with one call to the transfer center,” explains Deborah Neff, RN, BSN, CCRN Director of Emergency Services, Blue Mountain Health System. “We used to have to call the transfer center and wait for a bed assignment before we could begin transferring the patient to the cath lab at Lehigh Valley Hospital. The entire process has been streamlined. Now it is just one call and MI Alert patients are immediately accepted for transfer to the cath lab. This is a unique program in which a regional protocol has been implemented across non-affiliated hospitals.” James Edwards, president and CEO, Greater Hazleton Health Alliance also is extremely pleased with the program. “The Regional MI Alert works very well,” he states. “We wanted to make sure that patients in our community get prompt access to care. Partnering with a regional tertiary care facility, like Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, means faster access and better patient outcomes.” “Being part of the implementation team at both campuses (Lehighton and Palmerton) has been very exciting,” says Neff. “And the Regional MI Alert has exceeded our expectations. Our data shows door-to-balloon times have decreased by one hour. When time is of the essence, saving an hour means saving lives. In the past two years over 50 patients have gone through the Regional MI Alert process and there have been no fatalities! We are providing good service to the local community and the best possible care to our patients.” The HAP 2006 Achievement Awards recognized Pennsylvania’s most innovative hospital programs. According to Jan Fisher, chairman of HAP and president and CEO of Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hospital, Wellsboro, Pa., “Combined, these award-winning programs – chosen from nearly 200 outstanding entries – maximize health care quality, patient safety, and patient satisfaction…and they demonstrate accountability to communities that rely on their hospitals every day.” Five of the six awards – workforce, community/engagement, patient safety, patient care, and operational excellence had as many as three winners – one for different hospital categories and LVHHN won two of the five awards in its size category. LVHHN’s Regional MI Alert also was the sole winner of the new Innovation Award, “to recognize exemplary work in an organization through the introduction of a bold breakthrough idea or intervention that has resulted in improved system-wide processes or outcomes.” Various Regional MI Alert team members were present at the HAP Leadership Summit award ceremony. Says Michael Rossi, M.D., LVHHN chief of cardiology and medical director of the Regional Heart Center as he held the Innovation Award trophy, “It is very satisfying to be able to share our capabilities and what we learned internally about improving access and the quality of care for heart attack patients. Through our Regional MI Alert we and our partner hospitals and EMS providers are saving more lives in Pennsylvania.” This page last updated 4/14/08 02:03 PM
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