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UPHS-M takes cardiac award

Recognized for treating heart attack patients

Joseph Ackerman, STEMI/chest pain coordinator, UP Health System-Marquette

MARQUETTE — UP Health System-Marquette, a Duke LifePoint hospital, has received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Silver Performance Achievement Award for 2021.

UPHS-Marquette is one of only 132 hospitals nationwide to receive this honor, it announced.

The award recognizes commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies that UP Health System – Marquette has reached an aggressive goal of treating these patients to standard levels of care as outlined by the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association clinical guidelines and recommendations, it said.

To receive the Chest Pain – MI Registry Silver Performance Achievement Award, UP Health System – Marquette has demonstrated sustained achievement in the Chest Pain – MI Registry for four consecutive quarters during 2020 and performed with distinction in 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.

“As a Silver Performance Award recipient, UP Health System – Marquette has established itself as a leader in setting the national standard for improving quality of care in patients with acute myocardial infarction,” said Michael C. Kontos, MD, chairman of the NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Steering Subcommittee and cardiologist at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, in a news release. “By meeting the award requirements outlined in the registry, UP Health System – Marquette has demonstrated a commitment to providing reliable, comprehensive treatment for heart attack patients based on current clinical guideline recommendations.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 805,000 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.

“I’m incredibly proud of our organization’s commitment to providing evidence-based world-class heart and vascular services right here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan,” said Joseph Ackerman, STEMI/chest pain coordinator at UP Health System-Marquette. “This achievement speaks to the quality of not only the Chest Pain Center but the heart and vascular service line as a whole. Our communities have been and will continue to benefit from this effort.”

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, UPHS-Marquette said.

The American College of Cardiology bestows credentials upon cardiovascular professionals who meet stringent qualifications and leads in the formation of health policy, standards and guidelines. The college also provides professional medical education, disseminates cardiovascular research through its Journal of the American College of Cardiology publications, operates national registries to measure and improve care, and offers cardiovascular accreditation to hospitals and institutions.

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