Augusta, Ga. (July 23, 2024) – Piedmont Augusta has received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Gold Performance Achievement Award for 2024. Piedmont Augusta is one of only 61 hospitals nationwide to receive the honor.
The award recognizes Piedmont Augusta’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies that Piedmont Augusta has reached an aggressive goal of treating these patients to standard levels of care as outlined by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association clinical guidelines and recommendations.
To receive the Chest Pain – MI Registry Gold Performance Achievement Award, Piedmont Augusta has demonstrated sustained achievement in the Chest Pain – MI Registry for three consecutive years and performed at the top level for 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.
“It is an honor to award Piedmont Augusta with the Gold Performance Award for their valuable national leadership and dedication to meeting comprehensive performance measures in patient care,” said Michael C. Kontos, MD, FACC, chair of the NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Steering Subcommittee, and cardiologist at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. “The receipt of this award indicates that Piedmont Augusta remains committed to providing top quality, guideline-driven care for heart attack patients. Their success ensures patients are receiving the highest quality cardiovascular care.”
The Centers for Disease Control estimates that over 800,000 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.
“We are incredibly honored to receive this award for the third consecutive year. This prestigious recognition is a testament to the unwavering dedication and collaborative effort of our exceptional teams, who consistently strive to provide the highest standard of cardiac care to our patients,” said Dr. Michael Johnson, M.D., Cardiologist. “These teams include the Emergency Department, Cardiac Cath Lab, hospitalists, cardiologists, nursing staff, EMS, ancillary support departments and Administration. I am very proud of their success in caring for cardiac patients across the Augusta region and beyond.”
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. We’re honored to be recognized nationally for our consistent commitment to offering reliable and evidence-based treatment for heart attack patients.”