Heart Attack

Heart Attack

Heart attack also called acute myocardial infarction (AMI), occurs when the blood vessels supplying the heart with oxygen become clogged, either by blood clots or plaques. Once the blood flow has been interrupted, the heart muscle begins to die. If blood flow is not restored within a brief time frame, irreversible damage to the heart muscle will begin to occur, which frequently leads to death. Every year, 1 million people will have acute myocardial infarctions (heart attacks) in the USA, and, of those people, 400,000 die. The goal of care is to immediately treat patients showing signs and symptoms of heart attack and once diagnosed, to restore blood flow within 30-60 minutes. These measures show some of the standards of care provided, if appropriate for most adults who have had a heart attack.

Key

At or better than U.S. National average
Near the U.S. National average
Room for Improvement
qua_award Ribbon = best possible value

Additional information is available by clicking the links highlighted in blue.

 

16 minutes

Nassau University Medical Center
Hospital Quality Measures
NUMC
National Average
Heart Attack (AMI) mortality
July 1, 2014 – June 30, 2017
Risk-Adjusted

To calculate the hospital death rates and rates of readmission, Medicare uses a complex statistical procedure. The rates are ” risk-adjusted, ” meaning that the calculations take into account how sick patients were when they went in for their initial hospital stay. When rates are risk-adjusted, it means that hospitals that usually take care of sicker patients won’t have a worse rate just because their patients were sicker when they arrived at the hospital. When rates are risk-adjusted, it helps make comparisons fair and meaningful

Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) 30-Day Mortality Rate
13.2
Heart Attack (AMI) readmission
July 1, 2014 – June 30, 2017
Risk-Adjusted

To calculate the hospital death rates and rates of readmission, Medicare uses a complex statistical procedure. The rates are ” risk-adjusted, ” meaning that the calculations take into account how sick patients were when they went in for their initial hospital stay. When rates are risk-adjusted, it means that hospitals that usually take care of sicker patients won’t have a worse rate just because their patients were sicker when they arrived at the hospital. When rates are risk-adjusted, it helps make comparisons fair and meaningful

Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) 30-Day Readmission Rate
16.0
Outpatient Heart Attack (AMI) measures of care
April 1, 2016 –  September 30, 2017
Average number of minutes before outpatients with chest pain or possible heart attack got an ECG

“ECG” (sometimes called EKG) stands for electrocardiogram. An ECG is a test that can help doctors know whether patients are having a heart attack. Process of care says that patients with chest pain or a possible heart attack should have an ECG upon arrival, preferably within 10 minutes.

Lower number of minutes is better.

ECG for chest pain or possible heart attack 16 minutes
7 minutes
Percent of outpatients with chest pain or possible heart attack who got aspirin within 24 hours of arrival or transfer

The heart is a muscle that gets oxygen through blood vessels. Sometimes blood clots can block these blood vessels, and the heart can’t get enough oxygen. This can cause a heart attack. Chewing an aspirin as soon as symptoms of a heart attack begin may help reduce the severity of the attack. This chart shows the percent of outpatients with chest pain or possible heart attack who were given (or took) aspirin within 24 hours of arrival or transfer to the hospital.

Higher percentages are better.

Aspirin for chest pain or possible heart attack
96