Chest Pain Centers Can Vary in Quality of Treatment

Chest pain is one of the most common complaints of patients presenting to an ER. Yet, only 10%
to 15% of patients with chest pain have an Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI), commonly known as a heart attack. Of these AMI patients, 4% to 13% are released from the ER with false reassurance that coronary artery disease is not the cause of their symptoms. Many of these patients have complications from their AMI, with 11% to 25% dying. If a patient with an AMI is treated within 70 minutes, damage to the heart can be minimized.

Almost every hospital in the United States now has a Coronary Care Unit or a Chest Pain Center, which is designed to focus attention on patients with heart attacks. However, these CPCs vary in form, coordination of
skilled personnel, and dedicated equipment.

Studies show that significant delays can occur between the time that the patient arrives in the emergency department (ED) and when the physician makes the diagnosis of AMI and initiates treatment.
Many factors contribute to the failure to provide prompt therapy: delays in obtaining an electrocardiogram, delays in decision-making, delays in preparing and obtaining medication, and asking for consultation in
patients with clear evidence of AMI. Delays may also be due to staff perception of a patient’s pain as noncardiac, or a lack of rapidly available serum markers for AMI.

The First and Only Accredited Chest Pain Center in Orange County

Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center has an Accredited Chest Pain Center with PCI (balloon angioplasty) as designated by the prestigious Society of Chest Pain Centers, making the hospital the only accredited Chest Pain Center in Orange County.

The Society of Chest Pain Centers evaluates facilities nationwide to ensure they meet or exceed quality-of-care measures in acute cardiac medicine (www.scpcp.org). “The accreditation shows we have a detailed and well-designed process in place to diagnose and treat patients,” explains interventional cardiologist Arthur Calick, M.D., Medical Director of the Chest Pain Center at FVRH. “This accreditation is a process improvement project that allows the entire hospital to be involved in patient outcomes. Other hospitals may say they’re a Chest Pain Center, but they may not be accredited. There’s a big difference.”

One of the goals of a Chest Pain Center is to significantly reduce the time it takes for a patient experiencing symptoms of a possible heart attack to see a physician, thereby reducing the time to treatment during the critical early stages when treatment is most effective. The other goal is to provide a specialized
observation setting in which physicians are better able to monitor patients when it is not clear whether they are having a heart attack or other problem.

Dr. Arthur Calick, Medical Director of the Chest Pain Center

An Accredited Chest Pain Center Means:

 A full-spectrum emergency cardiac care program
 Rapid diagnosis and fast track treatment before a situation worsens, often preventing a severe heart
attack from occurring
 Standardized care for those entering with chest pain, resulting in more efficient use of the ER,
which reduces or eliminates bottle-necks in the emergency department
 Cooperative relationships between cardiologists and emergency physicians
 Decreased errors of omission
 Decreased errors of delay
 Decreased errors of treatment gap

“We have an obligation to provide the finest care possible to our community,” says Dr. Calick. “It’s
about saving lives. We have to do the right thing and the best thing. That’s our mission.”