Fauquier Hospital received full accreditation
status as a Chest Pain Center from the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care(SCPC) on December 12. The three-year accreditation from SCPC is the result of the rigorous
evaluation of Fauquier Hospital’s ability to assess, diagnose and treat
patients who may be experiencing a heart attack.
The
accreditation assures that processes are in place aimed at: reducing the time
from onset of symptoms to diagnosis and treatment; treating patients more
quickly during the critical window of time when the integrity of the heart
muscle can be preserved; and monitoring patients when it is not certain that
they are having a heart attack, to ensure that they are not sent home too
quickly or needlessly admitted to the hospital.
Michael
Jenks, M.D. chief of the Fauquier Hospital Emergency Department, explained, “Hospitals
that have received SCPC accreditation have achieved a higher level of expertise
in dealing with patients who arrive with symptoms of a heart attack. They
emphasize the importance of standardized diagnostic and treatment programs that
provide more efficient and effective evaluation, as well as more appropriate
and rapid treatment of patients with chest pain and other heart attack
symptoms. The accreditation process has been a long and worthwhile process that
has involved every one of our hospital departments.”
Rodger
Baker, CEO and president of Fauquier Health, added, “Our clinicians and support
staff have done an amazing job, examining our protocols and processes to make
sure that folks who come to our Emergency Department with chest pain are
treated quickly and effectively. This accreditation comes after more than a year
of focused work in chest pain care.”
Key areas in which an Accredited 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 the competence and training of Accredited Chest Pain Center personnel
- Maintaining organizational structure and commitment
- Having a functional design that promotes optimal patient care
Dr. Jenks added, “People tend to wait when they think they might be having a heart attack, and that’s a mistake. The average patient arrives in the emergency department more than two hours after the onset of symptoms, but what they don’t realize is that the sooner a heart attack is treated, the less damage to the heart and the better the outcome for the patient. With our new accreditation, we hope to bring more attention to this and help even more people in Fauquier County.”
Part
of LifePoint Hospitals®, Fauquier Hospital is one of 23 of the
system’s hospitals that have achieved SCPC accreditation in 2014 as part of a
company-wide commitment to enhancing quality and ensuring excellent service and
care in the emergency department.
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