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NMC & Fletcher Allen Cardiac Collaboration Hailed as "National Standard of Excellence"
The recently released STEMI Annual Report, Fiscal Year 2009 holds high praise for the collaboration between Northwestern Medical Center and Fletcher Allen Health Care in the care of patients suffering from particularly dangerous heart attacks (STEMI) where time to treatment is of the utmost importance.
“The transfer program with Northwestern Medical Center has become a national standard of excellence in academic and quality discussions,” said Dr. Harold Dauerman, Director of Cardiovascular Catheterization Laboratories at Fletcher Allen Health Care and Professor of Medicine at the University of Vermont, who authored the report.
NMC’s Emergency Department has worked with Fletcher Allen’s Cardiology and Emergency Departments since 2007 on a specialized protocol for patients who experience the STEMI type of heart attack. Patients are rapidly assessed, diagnosed, and stabilized in the NMC Emergency Department and transported to Burlington for intervention in the FAHC Cardiac Catheterization Lab. The FY’09 data shows that “door to balloon time” between NMC and FAHC was 88 minutes, better than the national benchmark (with “balloon” referring to the patient’s cardiac catheterization).
NMC was the first hospital to work with FAHC on this STEMI protocol. It has become a model for Vermont, as this uniform approach to STEMI patients is now also used at Copley Hospital, Gifford Medical Center, Porter Medical Center, and Central Vermont Medical Center.
According to Dr. Dauerman’s report, more STEMI patients now arrive at FAHC through a STEMI transfer than present directly at FAHC. “In FY09, 74 patients were transferred for primary PCI (Percutaneous Coronary Intervention) as compared to 54 patients presenting directly to FAHC with STEMI.”
Ed Haak, DO, NMC Emergency Department Medical Director, and Molly Grismore, RN, NMC Emergency Department Nurse Manager, agree wholeheartedly with Dr. Dauerman’s assessment of the success of the program.
“The key is the collaborative effort and the commitments on the parts of Cardiology, Fletcher Allen, and NMC,” says Grismore. “Everyone knows it’s the right thing to do for the patient.”
“Nationally, everyone is trying to do what we’re already doing here,” says Dr. Haak. “When someone is having a heart attack, every minute lost is heart muscle lost. This program saves minutes, saves muscle, and saves lives. It illustrates how great a team we have and the value of teamwork.” |
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