Mission: Lifeline Heart Attack Receiving Center Accreditation
June 13, 2012North Kansas City Hospital has been named one of 11 hospitals in the country and the only hospital in Missouri to receive the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline® Heart Attack Receiving Center Accreditation.
The accreditation program—sponsored by the American Heart Association and the Society of Chest Pain Centers—recognizes centers that meet or exceed quality of care measures for people experiencing the most severe type of heart attack, ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), in which blood flow is completely blocked to a portion of the heart. North Kansas City Hospital’s Chest Pain Center consistently exceeds national and state averages for quick response in getting heart attack patients to treatment.
As part of the stringent accreditation process North Kansas City Hospital underwent numerous on-site reviews by accreditation specialists from the Society of Chest Pain Centers. Key areas in which the Hospital demonstrated exceptional quality of care to receive accreditation include:
- Consistently beating the national benchmark “door to balloon” time. The national benchmark is 90 minutes and North Kansas City Hospital consistently averages 50 minutes.
- Consistently beating the nation benchmark of patient arrival to EKG. The national benchmark is 10 minutes and North Kansas City Hospital has consistently averaged 5 minutes.
- Educating first responders and developing protocols to help ensure heart attack events are quickly identified for early treatment.
- Continuously working to educate the public on recognizing heart attack early warning signs and teaching people to seek treatment immediately.
After passing the rigorous requirements, North Kansas City Hospital earned the right to display the American Heart Association Mission: Lifeline® Heart Attack Receiving Center Accreditation certification mark. “North Kansas City Hospital has worked very hard to develop an outstanding cardiac program to offer the best service to our patients. This national recognition will help make the people of Kansas City aware that North Kansas City Hospital is a leader in cardiac care,” says Tony Occhipinti, manager of the Vascular Access Team, Nurse Manager of Cardiac Care and the Chest Pain Center coordinator.
North Kansas City Hospital has additionally been recognized by other prestigious organizations and earned accreditations including the Society of Chest Pain Centers Cycle III Accreditation with PCI, Health Grades Emergency Medicine Excellence, American College of Cardiology Foundation's NCDR Action Registry-Get With The Guidelines - gold designation and the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline® Performance Achievement - bronze designation.
Through its accreditation program, the American Heart Association hopes to significantly reduce cardiac deaths by teaching the public to recognize and react to early symptoms of a heart attack, reduce the time it takes to receive lifesaving treatment and increase the accuracy and effectiveness of treatment.
About North Kansas City Hospital: For over 50 years, North Kansas City Hospital has been at the forefront of providing medical care in the Northland. The Hospital is an acute-care facility with 451-licensed beds and five centers of excellence including Northland Cardiac Center, Northland Cancer Center, Northland Women’s Center, Northland Orthopedic Center and Northland Emergency Center. The medical staff includes over 550 physicians representing 49 medical specialties. For more information, contact North Kansas City Hospital at 2800 Clay Edwards Dr., North Kansas City, MO 64116, on the web at nkch.org, at 816-691-2000 or follow the Hospital on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.