Baton Rouge General (BRG) announced that it was awarded certification for both its Chest Pain and Primary Stroke Center.
The hospital again earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Heart-Check mark for Advanced Primary Stroke Center Certification.
“Stroke is the number four cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the U.S.,” said Johnny Jones, MD, chief of emergency medicine at BRG. “Time is critical when someone is suffering a stroke, and immediate treatment at a primary stroke center offers the best chance of survival and recovery.”
BRG was also awarded a Chest Pain Certification from The Joint Commission. The certification evaluates how organizations use clinical outcomes and performance measures to identify opportunities to improve care, as well as to educate and prepare patients and their caregivers for discharge.
For example, BRG has partnered with local ambulance services to begin patient evaluations upon initial contact. An EKG obtained in the field is transmitted straight from the ambulance to the hospital and immediately interpreted by a physician. If the patient meets the criteria for a heart attack, the cardiologist and heart lab team are immediately deployed. That way, upon arrival, the patient can be brought directly to the cardiac catheterization lab for treatment.
“For patients suffering a heart attack, appropriate treatment should be administered within 90 minutes for the best chance of survival, according to national guidelines,” Jones added. “Through our team’s identified best practice, our intervention times are well below the national standard, which vastly improves our patient outcomes.”