All Six Baptist Health System Hospitals Among Nation’s Top Performing Hospitals for Treatment of Heart Attack Patients

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

SAN ANTONIO, JUNE 2023 – All six Baptist Health System acute care hospitals have received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain ̶ MI (Myocardial Infarction or heart attack) Registry Performance Achievement Award for 2023.

The award recognizes Baptist Health System’s commitment to and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies that the Baptist hospitals have 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.

“I am very proud of our cardiac teams for their continued drive to provide excellent care of their patients,” said Matt Stone, Baptist Health System Group CEO. “The receipt of this award at all our hospitals is a result of the hard work of our physicians and staff who are 100-percent committed to providing top quality, guideline-driven care for heart attack patients. Their success ensures that our patients are receiving high quality heart care.”

Resolute Baptist Hospital, North Central Baptist Hospital and Northeast Baptist Hospital each earned platinum level recognition. Mission Trail Baptist, Baptist Medical Center, and St. Luke's Baptist Hospital are each silver award recipients. To receive the platinum award, hospitals must demonstrate sustained achievement in the Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry for two consecutive years (2021 and 2022) and attain the highest level of care for specific performance measures. Only 262 hospitals nationwide earned the platinum award. To receive the silver performance award, hospitals must demonstrate sustained achievement in the Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry for four consecutive quarters during 2022 and perform with distinction in specific performance measures. Only 82 hospitals nationwide received the silver honor.

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.

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.

The 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.