What is a Heart Attack?
A heart attack (also called an AMI or acute myocardial infarction) occurs when an area of heart muscle dies or is permanently damaged because of an inadequate supply of oxygen to that area.
Learn more about Heart Attacks.
How is Care Measured?
When someone is having a Heart Attack, timely, clear-cut treatment is critical. Evidence has shown that patients who received specific treatments and medications at certain times experienced the best outcomes. These procedures and medications include:
- Aspirin at arrival;
- Aspirin at discharge;
- ACE Inhibitor or ARB for Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction (LVSD);
- Fibrinolytic medication within 30 minutes of arrival;
- PCI (Percutaneous Coronary Intervention) within 90 minutes of arrival;
- Smoking cessation advice/counseling.
University Hospitals Case Medical Center either exceeds or matches the national average of Heart Attack care standards achieved by the nation’s top hospitals.
You may view the details for each measurement by visiting the Health and Human Services web site called “Hospital Compare”.
Heart Attack
| UH Case Medical Center Hospital Process of Care Measure |
Percentage for UH Case |
State Average
|
National Average |
| Percent of Heart Attack Patients Given Aspirin at Arrival
|
100% |
99% |
99% |
| Percent of Heart Attack Patients Given Aspirin at Discharge
|
100% |
99% |
99% |
| Percent of Heart Attack Patients Given Ace Inhibitor or ARB for Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction (LVSD)
|
98% |
97% |
96% |
| Percent of Heart Attack Patients Given Smoking Cessation Advice/Counseling
|
100% |
100% |
100% |
| Percent of Heart Attack Patients Given Beta Blocker at Discharge
|
99% |
99% |
98% |
How is Process of Care Measured?
University Hospitals participates in the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC): a nationwide alliance of academic medical centers and their affiliated hospitals. This group represents approximately 90% of the nation’s non-profit academic medical centers.
The UHC maintains a comparative database of healthcare measures which have been established to indicate the overall quality of commonly-performed medical procedures. Criteria for measuring heart attack outcomes include:
Mortality Rate
Why is this important to you as a patient?
Mortality rate is an indicator of good patient care process.
A lower number is better.
How do we compare outcomes?
UHCMC participates in the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) comparative database along with more than 100 other academic centers across the country. The national comparison shown below compares our outcomes to those of other nationally-recognized academic medical centers.
Results:
UHCMC’s AMI mortality rate is better than expected.