Baptist Health Hardin Among Nation’s Top Performing Hospitals for Treatment of Heart Attack Patients

Baptist Health Hardin. June 23, 2023

American College of Cardiology NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Gold Award recognizes sustained, high-level performance in quality of care.

(ELIZABETHTOWN, KY) June 23, 2023 - Baptist Health Hardin has received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Gold Performance Achievement Award for 2023. It is the second year the hospital has won a NCDR award. It earned the Chest Pain – MI Registry Silver Award in 2022. Baptist Health Hardin is one of only 56 hospitals nationwide to receive the honor.

“The American College of Cardiology’s decision to award this honor to Baptist Health Hardin as one of only 56 hospitals nationwide is an acknowledgement of our commitment to providing high quality cardiac care for our patients,” said Baptist Health Hardin President Robert Ramey. “It is a testament to our clinical teams’ hard work, commitment to best practices, and concentrated efforts to improve quality and safety measures that result in positive outcomes for our patients.”

The Chest Pain – MI Registry Gold Performance Achievement Award recognizes Baptist Health Hardin’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies that Baptist Health Hardin 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, Baptist Health Hardin has demonstrated sustained achievement in the Chest Pain – MI Registry for two consecutive years (2022 and 2023), 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 Baptist Health Hardin 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 Baptist Health Hardin 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.

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.

The American College of Cardiology envisions a world where innovation and knowledge optimize cardiovascular care and outcomes. As the professional home for the entire cardiovascular care team, the mission of the College and its more than 56,000 members is to transform cardiovascular care and to improve heart health. The ACC 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 world-renowned JACC Journals, operates national registries to measure and improve care, and offers cardiovascular accreditation to hospitals and institutions. For more, visit acc.org.