Lebanon Cardiology Associates and The Good Samaritan Hospital team up to implement hypothermia protocol for improved cardiac care

Jan 29 2010

Lebanon Cardiology Associates teamed with The Good Samaritan Hospital to implement one of the top 15% performing emergency cardiac catheterization teams treating heart attacks in the United States.

Medicare data (updated November 23, 2009) revealed there was no medical center in Hershey, Lancaster, or Reading with faster “Door to balloon times” than Good Samaritan Hospital (see Figure). Time is critical when detecting and treating a heart attack. Door to balloon time is a measure of how quickly a team is able to restore blood flow in a patient having a heart attack. Door to balloon time is counted from when the patient arrives in the hospital “door” (or emergency room) to the point in time when angioplasty is used to open the blocked heart artery causing the heart attack.

“The hypothermia protocol, typically reserved for large, urban hospitals, was essential for us to keep our community safe. Our team of dedicated professionals made a commitment to provide the best heart attack and cardiac arrest care for our community… Good is not enough.”

Good Samaritan and Lebanon Cardiology Associates achieved an impressive 95% of heart attack patients with door to balloon times within 90 minutes of arrival. This places them in the top 15% of all reporting centers in the United States treating heart attacks according to the American College of Cardiology. Even more impressive, their survival rates were no different than the U.S. national rate for heart attacks, Lebanon county has more elderly residents than either Dauphin, Lancaster, or Berks counties, and the Medicare cost to provide this treatment was among the lowest in Central Pennsylvania. Good Samaritan and Lebanon Cardiology Associates are also excited to offer one of the few emergency hypothermia protocols available in Central Pennsylvania for patients having an arrest due to a heart attack. Patients presenting to Good Samaritan have access to one of the most state-of-the-art emergency cardiac care protocols in which the body is cooled (hypothermia) to protect the brain after a cardiac arrest.

To improve survival of its cardiac arrest patients, Drs. Thomas Clemens and David Griffin of Lebanon Cardiology Associates assembled a multidisciplinary team of emergency physicians, anesthesiologists, and intensive care nurses to implement a hypothermia protocol to increase the oxygen supply and reduce oxygen consumption in the brain, with the goal of improving neurological function upon survival. Hypothermia decreases the body's metabolic rate 6-7 percent for every 1 degree Celsius decrease in body temperature. Dr. Griffin states, “The hypothermia protocol, typically reserved for large, urban hospitals, was essential for us to keep our community safe. Our team of dedicated professionals made a commitment to provide the best heart attack and cardiac arrest care for our community… Good is not enough.” He adds, “We are very proud of these recent results but are always looking for ways we can improve.”

The door to balloon time data are taken from the Hospital Compare website of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that was created to show whether or not hospitals provide the recommended care for patients being treated for a heart attack (among other diseases). This information can be accessed at www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov and includes data that is voluntarily submitted by hospitals about the treatments Medicare patients received for their conditions.