St. James Among Nation's Top Performing Hospitals for Treatment of Heart Attack Patients

St. James Healthcare has received the American College of Cardiology's NCDR Chest Pain MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2021. Placing St. James as one of only 212 hospitals nationwide to receive the honor.

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

To receive the Chest Pain - MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award, St. James has demonstrated sustained achievement in the Chest Pain - MI Registry for two consecutive years (2019 & 2020), 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.

"As a Platinum Performance Award recipient, St. James has established itself as a leader in setting the national standard for improving quality of care in patients with acute myocardial infarction," said Michael C. Kontos, MD, FACC, chair of the NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Steering Subcommittee, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. "By meeting the award requirements set forth in the registry, St. James has demonstrated a commitment to providing reliable, comprehensive treatment for heart attack patients based on current clinical guideline recommendations."

The Center for Disease Control estimates that almost 700,000 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.

"We are honored to receive the American College of Cardiology's NCDR Chest Pain - MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2021," said St. James Chief Medical Officer Jennifer Davenport, MD. "It reflects the dedication, commitment, and clinical excellence of our cardiologists, Emergency Department providers, nurses, technicians, and the entire St. James Cardiovascular Team. We are firmly committed to providing the best, state-of-the-art therapies to Southwest Montana."

St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings, a fellow SCL Health Montana hospital, continued its run of excellence after receiving a Silver Achievement Award in 2019, then a Gold Achievement Award in 2020, and then achieving a Platinum Award in 2021.

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.