UPMC in Central Pa. Hospitals Among Nation’s Top for Treatment of Heart Attack Patients

American College of Cardiology NCDR Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry Platinum Award Recognizes Sustained, High Level Performance in Quality of Care

May 17, 2022

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Four UPMC in Central Pa. hospitals have received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2022. UPMC Harrisburg, UPMC West Shore, UPMC Hanover and UPMC Memorial are among only 240 hospitals nationwide to receive the honor.

The award recognizes UPMC’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies that it 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.

"At UPMC, it is especially important to all of us that we provide exceptional care for our cardiovascular patients," said Philip Guarneschelli, president of UPMC in Central Pa. “We are honored to receive the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2022. This recognition is a testament to the dedication and excellence of our cardiologists, nurses, technicians and the entire heart and vascular team at these hospitals. With heart disease being a leading cause of death in the U.S., we remain committed to ensuring world class, state-of-the-art therapies are available to our patients here in central Pa. and beyond."

To receive the Chest Pain – MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award, the hospitals have demonstrated sustained achievement in the Chest Pain – MI Registry for two consecutive years (2020 and 2021) and performed at the highest 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 UPMC Harrisburg, UPMC West Shore, UPMC Hanover and UPMC Memorial with the Platinum Performance Award for their valuable national leadership and dedication to meeting comprehensive performance measures in patient care,” said Michael C. Kontos, M.D., 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 UPMC in Central Pa. 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.