Frye Regional Medical Center Among Nation’s Top Performing Hospitals for Treatment of Heart Attack Patients
June 8, 2023
HICKORY, NC (June 8, 2023) – Frye Regional Medical Center, a Duke LifePoint hospital, has received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2023. Frye Regional is one of only 262 hospitals nationwide to receive the honor.
“This award recognizes our hospital’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients,” said Philip Greene, MD, chief executive officer of Frye Regional Medical Center. “Further, it signifies that Frye Regional’s accredited Chest Pain Center has reached an aggressive goal of treating these patients to standard levels of care as outlined by the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association clinical guidelines and recommendations.”
To receive the Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award, Frye Regional has demonstrated sustained achievement in the Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry for two consecutive years (2021 and 2022), 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 Frye Regional with the Platinum Performance Award for their valuable national leadership and dedication to meeting comprehensive performance measures in patient care,” said Michael C. Kontos, MD, 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 Frye Regional 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.
“The accredited Chest Pain Center at Frye Regional Medical Center provides a higher standard of care for heart attack patients – close to home,” said R. Norman McDonald, MD, an interventional cardiologist and Frye Regional’s cardiology section chief. “We use the latest treatment methods and best practices to ensure that our patients receive the right care at the right time to minimize or eliminate heart damage due to heart attack, which has the ultimate benefit of helping our patients to return to their lives more quickly with improved quality of life after a heart episode.
“Our cardiology and emergency medicine team members are proud to receive this national recognition,” Dr. McDonald added. “This achievement award is a testament to our team’s collaboration and commitment to saving hearts and lives.”
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.
Frye Regional Medical Center is the first Duke Health heart affiliate in western North Carolina. Backed by the resources of the Duke Heart Center, Frye Regional gains access to Duke training and staff education, evidence-based guidelines and practices when it comes to heart and heart-related issues.
In addition to the NCDR achievement award, Frye Regional was recently named a High Performing Hospital for Heart Attack, Heart Failure and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) by U.S. News & World Report, the global authority in hospital rankings and consumer advice. This is the highest award a hospital can earn for U.S. News’ Best Hospitals Procedures & Conditions ratings. Frye Regional earned the High Performing Hospital ratings in recognition of heart care that was significantly better than the national average, as measured by factors such as patient outcomes.