Inova Alexandria Hospital receives special recognition for heart attack care

ACTION-Oriented

Inova Alexandria Hospital has received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR ACTION Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2017. We are one of only 193 hospitals nationwide to receive the honor.

The award recognizes Inova Alexandria’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients. It also signifies that Inova Alexandria 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.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 700,000 Americans suffer heart attacks 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.

“When a patient suffers from a heart attack, the sooner we open the blocked artery, the more heart muscle we can save,” explains M. Rafiq Zaheer, MD, cardiologist and Inova Alexandria Section Chief, Cardiology. “That means the patient must participate in the process and call 911 right away so he or she can arrive at the hospital as soon as possible. This will allow for the most effective treatment and outcome.”

Article: Managing heart attack risks