The American Heart Association Honors Providence Portland Medical Center in Association with the Oregon Clinic as one of the Best Treatment Programs for Heart Disease Nationwide

Monday, August 28, 2006

The Oregon Clinic

The Oregon Clinic Physicians Teamed With Providence Portland Medical Center to Become One of Only Eight Programs Recognized

The American Heart Association (AHA) awarded Providence Portland Medical Center (PPMC) with “Get With The Guidelines”(GWTG) honor, the prestigious “Sustained Performance Achievement Award” in the category of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), for 2005. The award – given to only eight hospitals in the country, in this category – recognizes Providence Medical Center and The Oregon Clinic’s GWTG/CAD program’s success for 24 consecutive months in implementing a level of care that effectively improves treatment of patients hospitalized with CAD.  The Award was announced and profiled in the July 17 issue of U.S. News & World Report, in its annual “Top Hospitals” edition.

The GWTG/CAD program encourages continuous quality improvement of heart attack treatment and prevention by focusing on care team guidelines to ensure that patients are treated and discharged appropriately.  It also strives to engage patients so that they play an active role in their recovery to help prevent future cardiac events.

Heart disease is the number one killer of men and women in America. People who survive a heart attack have a substantial risk of another heart attack, sudden death, angina pectoris, heart failure and stroke. Yet projections have shown that implementation of cardiovascular disease secondary prevention guidelines nationwide could result in saving more than 80,000 lives each year.     

“Research demonstrates that when patients are discharged from the hospital on appropriate medications such as aspirin, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors and lipid-lowering medicines, their risk of second cardiac events is reduced and lives are saved,” said Steven Reinhart, M.D., Cardiologist for The Oregon Clinic and Quality Medical Director for GWTG/CAD efforts at Providence Portland.  “If by implementing this program we can reduce the number of deaths from secondary heart attacks, we will have made an incredible impact in cardiovascular care.  After all, we’re in the business of healing people, trying to save lives. It’s what makes it all worthwhile.”

To receive the award, PPMC staff and TOC cardiologists consistently adhered to performance criteria in five categories with at least 85 percent of all eligible patients over a period of at least 24 consecutive months.  The five key categories of the GWTG/CAD program include:

  • Smoking cessation counseling for current smokers (or persons who have smoked within the last 12 months), weight management counseling and referrals for cardiac rehabilitation on discharge
  • Aspirin on discharge
  • Beta-blocker on discharge
  • ACE-I and/or ARB on discharge
  • Lipid lowering therapy on discharge

“The AHA applauds Providence Portland Medical Center and The Oregon Clinic for its success in implementing the appropriate standards of care and protocols to reduce the number of recurrent events in coronary patients,” said Gray Ellrodt, M.D., the AHA volunteer chairman for the national GWTG program. “This program is well above the national average in terms of implementing these life-saving treatments.”

PPMC teamed with TOC cardiologists since 2003 to participate with GWTG/CAD.  The program was recognized with the “Annual Achievement Award” in 2004.