Parkway Medical Center

Parkway Medical Center Receives Chest Pain Center Accreditation

 

Parkway Medical Center – Decatur, AL received full Cycle III accreditation status from the
Accreditation Review Committee on January 16, 2010. Accreditation expires February 24, 2013.

“This Re-Accreditation means that Parkway Medical Center continues to stay one step closer to
beating heart disease in Decatur, Morgan County, “said Parkway CEO Tim McGill.

Heart attacks are the leading cause of death in the United States, with 600,000 dying annually of
heart disease. More than five million Americans visit hospitals each year with chest pain. The
goal of the Society of Chest Pain Centers is to significantly reduce the mortality rate of these
patients by teaching the public to recognize and react to the early symptoms of a possible heart
attack, reduce the time that it takes to receive treatment, and increase the accuracy and
effectiveness of treatment.

The Chest Pain Center’s protocol driven and systematic approach to patient management allows
physicians to reduce time to treatment during the critical early stages of a heart attack, when
treatments are most effective, and to better monitor patients when it is not clear whether they are
having a coronary event. Such observation helps ensure that a patient is neither sent home too
early nor needlessly admitted.

With the rise of Chest Pain Centers came the need to establish standards designed to improve the
consistency and quality of care provided to patients. The Society’s accreditation process insures
centers meet or exceed quality-of-care measures in acute cardiac medicine.
“We have integrated the best practices and the newest standards into our cardiac care processes,
which means our patients will receive advanced care during the most critical window of time
when the integrity of the muscle can be preserved intact,” said Chest Pain Center Medical
Director and partner in the Heart Center Dr. Ashish Basu.

The Chest Pain Center at Parkway Medical Center has demonstrated its expertise and
commitment to quality patient care by meeting or exceeding a wide set of stringent criteria and
completing on-site evaluations by a review team from the Society of Chest Pain Centers. Key
areas in which a Chest Pain Center must demonstrate expertise include:

• Integrating the emergency department with the local emergency medical system
• Assessing, diagnosing, and treating patients quickly
• Effectively treating patients with low risk for acute coronary syndrome and no assignable cause for their symptoms
• Continually seeking to improve processes and procedures
• Ensuring Chest Pain Center personnel competency and training
• Maintaining organizational structure and commitment
• Having a functional design that promotes optimal patient care
• Supporting community outreach programs that educate the public to promptly seek medical care if they display symptoms of a possible heart attack

About Parkway Medical Center

Parkway Medical Center, a 120-bed, advanced full-service community hospital, is accredited by
the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and has served the Decatur
and Morgan County area for more than 80 years. Parkway offers a full range of services,
including 24-hour emergency care, and is focused on providing quality care and excellent
customer service to all patients the hospital serves. Parkway is affiliated with the Capella
Healthcare family of hospitals.

About the Society of Chest Pain Centers (SCPC)

The Society of Chest Pain Centers is a patient centric non-profit international professional
organization focused upon improving care for patients with acute coronary syndromes and other
related maladies. Established in 1998, the Society is dedicated to patient advocacy and focusing
on ischemic heart disease. Central to its mission is the question, “What is right for the patient?”
In answer, the Society promotes protocol based medicine, often delivered through a Chest Pain
Center model to address the diagnosis and treatment of acute coronary syndromes, heart failure,
and to promote the adoption of process improvement science by healthcare providers. To best
fulfill this mission, the Society of Chest Pain Centers provides accreditation to facilities striving
for optimum Chest Pain Center care. SCPC is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.
For more information on the Society of Chest Pain Centers visit www.scpcp.org, or contact Kay
Styer Holmes, RN BSN MSA, Director of Accreditation Services 614.442.5950 or
kholmes@scpcp.org.