Chest Pain Center accreditation confirmed for all three Scottsdale Healthcare hospitals

Accreditation recognizes quality care for chest pain patients, collaboration with local EMS providers

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – The Society for Chest Pain Centers has announced that all three Scottsdale Healthcare hospitals are now accredited as Certified Chest Pain Centers.

Scottsdale Healthcare Thompson Peak Hospital received full Cycle II accreditation, Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Medical Center and Scottsdale Healthcare Shea Medical Center both received full Cycle II accreditation with PCI.

Accreditation as a chest pain center means each hospital meets or exceeds a wide set of stringent criteria and completed on-site evaluations by a review team from the Society of Chest Pain Centers. 

“Chest Pain Center designation affirms that we have coordinated training and care between our local emergency medical service providers and the hospitals’ emergency departments, cardiac cath labs and cardiologists in treating patients with chest pain and heart attacks,” said Jean Knoedler, VP and administrator at Scottsdale Healthcare Thompson Peak Hospital.

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. 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 Chest Pain Center personnel competency and training.
• 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.

“Those who care for cardiac patients say ‘time is muscle.’ Speeding up the diagnosis and treatment of someone having a heart attack, and preventing further injury to the heart, is our goal,” said Scottsdale Healthcare President and CEO Tom Sadvary. “Achieving Chest Pain Center designation for our hospitals is a benefit for our community and a tribute to the hard work and collaboration of our physicians, staff and local EMS providers.”

The Society of Chest Pain Centers is a patient centric 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 http://www.scpcp.org/, or contact Robert Lipetz, Executive Director at (614) 442-5950 or director@scpcp.org.

Submitted on behalf of Scottsdale Healthcare
Scottsdale Healthcare (http://www.shc.org/) is the not-for-profit parent organization of Scottsdale Healthcare Thompson Peak Hospital, Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Medical Center, Scottsdale Healthcare Shea Medical Center, Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center, Scottsdale Clinical Research Institute, TGen Clinical Research Services at Scottsdale Healthcare, Scottsdale Healthcare Home Health Services, Scottsdale Healthcare Community Health Services, NOAH Clinics and Scottsdale Healthcare Foundation. Scottsdale Healthcare ER wait times are updated every three minutes at http://www.fastertimes.org/.

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