For the fifth year in a row, Anderson Regional Medical Center has received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain-MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award.

The award recognizes Anderson’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies that Anderson has reached an aggressive goal of treating these patients as outlined by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association clinical guidelines and recommendations.

To receive the platinum performance award, Anderson demonstrated sustained achievement in the Chest Pain-MI Registry for two consecutive years, 2021 through 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 Anderson Regional Medical Center with the Platinum Performance Award for their valuable national leadership and dedication to meeting comprehensive performance measures in patient care,” said Dr. Michael C. Kontos, chair of the NCDR Chest Pain-MI Registry Steering Subcommittee and a cardiologist at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. “The receipt of this award indicates that Anderson 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 and Prevention 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.

“In my nearly 33 years of practice in Meridian, Anderson Regional Medical Center has been an unwavering advocate for quality cardiovascular care in east Mississippi and west Alabama,” said Dr. Wesley Bennett, interventional cardiologist at Cardiovascular Institute of the South, a medical care partner with ARMC. “This impressive fifth consecutive platinum award given by the American College of Cardiology is a testament to their continued strong commitment to the cardiovascular health of our community. In addition, the teamwork between local EMS, ER staff, cardiologists, cath lab staff and nursing staff allows us to quickly and efficiently assess patients who require immediate treatment. It also helps to ensure patients are not sent home too early or admitted unnecessarily.”

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.