Geisinger Medical Center earns full chest pain accreditation

James Blankenship, MD, Director, Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at GMC and Michael Fitzpatrick, MD, Emergency Medical Physician at GMC led the accreditation team in receiving the three-year certification. “This accreditation was awarded to Geisinger because Geisinger provides great care to patients with chest pain, and because Geisinger is a pioneer in developing even better treatments for these patients,” said Dr. Blankenship.

More than five million Americans visit hospitals each year with chest pain. For many people, the pain is due to a heart attack. But doctors and patients have trouble distinguishing a heart attack from a less dangerous problem such as muscle strain. For many years Geisinger has used an Emergency Department “chest pain unit” to rapidly sort out the “worried well” from those with dangerous heart attacks. The goal of the Society of Chest Pain Centers is to save lives by improving the care provided by these chest pain units. It advocates teaching the public to recognize and react to the early symptoms of a possible heart attack, reducing delays in treatment, and increasing the accuracy and effectiveness of treatment. 

As an accredited chest pain center, GMC has demonstrated expertise including:

• Cooperation between the Emergency Department and local emergency medical services;
• Rapid diagnosis and treatment of patients with chest pain due to heart disease;
• Rapid identification and discharge of patients with non-dangerous chest pain;
• Ongoing education and training of chest pain unit doctors, nurses, and staff;
• Continuous improvement of processes and procedures used to treat chest pain patients;
• Supporting community outreach programs to educate the public to promptly seek medical care for symptoms of a possible heart attack.

Marie Sledgen, RN, who coordinated Geisinger’s preparation for accreditation, noted that Geisinger Medical Center also has one of the few 24/7/365 heart attack programs in the area. After entering Geisinger’s Emergency Department, patients with a large heart attack go directly to the catheterization lab where the blocked artery is opened by highly trained technicians and cardiac physicians. The time it takes to open the artery has decreased from over 3 hours to less than an hour due to new strategies introduced by Geisinger physicians over the past few years.

To get ready for the next accreditation process 3 years from now, Geisinger’s physicians are already working on further improvements in their care of chest pain patients. Dr. Fitzpatrick pointed out that “by using new equipment such as 64-slice CT scanners and streamlining how we care for chest pain patients, we will be able to provide even better care within the next few years.” 

About the Society of Chest Pain Centers (SCPC) 

The Society of Chest Pain Centers is a patient centered non-profit 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 focusing 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 Weisenburger Lipetz, Executive Director at (614) 442-5950 or www.scpcp.org, or contact Robert Weisenburger Lipetz, Executive Director at (614) 442-5950 or www.scpcp.org, or contact Robert Weisenburger Lipetz, Executive Director at (614) 442-5950 or director@scpcp.org

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