Heart Attack Report

What is a Heart Attack?

A heart attack is when the blood flow to the heart is reduced or cut off completely. This occurs when the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle is narrowed or blocked from buildup of fat, cholesterol, blood clots, or other substances known as plaque.

To learn more about heart attacks visit the American Heart Association, click HERE.

Heart Attack Patient Mortality (Death)

What is this measure?

This measure shows whether Medicare patients died within 30 days of going to the hospital for a heart attack. The death rates take into account how sick patients were before they were admitted to the hospital.

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Data Source: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) when available or internal data
Benchmark Source: Rates are compared by the CMS to the U.S. national rate for each Medicare patient type when available, or by internal national benchmarking data

Why is it important?

This information is important because one way to tell if a hospital is doing a good job is to see if the death (mortality) rate for heart attack patients treated at that hospital is better than, the same as or worse than the U.S. national average. Death rates provide information about important aspects that affect patients’ outcomes. A focus on prevention, response to complications, emphasis on patient safety, and timeliness of care lowers mortality rates and improve patient outcomes.

Heart Attack Patient Hospital Readmission

What is this measure?

This readmission measure shows how often a Medicare patient returns to the hospital for an unplanned admission within 30 days of going home from the previous hospitalization. Patients may return to the same hospital or a different hospital. The readmission may be related the original heart attack or for a different health issue. The readmission rates take into account how sick patients were before they were admitted to the hospital.

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Data Source: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) when available or internal data
Benchmark Source: Rates are compared by the CMS to the U.S. national rate for each Medicare patient type when available, or by internal national benchmarking data

Why is it important?

This information is important because one way to tell if a hospital is doing a good job is to see if the readmission rate for heart attack patients is better than, the same as or worse than the U.S. national average. Readmission rates show how well the hospital is doing to prevent complications, provide clear discharge instructions, and aid in making easy transition home or to another setting.

What is Kaweah Health doing to continue to improve?

A hospital-wide physician-lead team of healthcare professionals are dedicated to promote and oversee best practices in the care of heart attack patients and are always looking to for new ways continuously improve care. See our national recognitions for cardiac care and cardiac surgery click HERE.

Kaweah has joined forces with Cleveland Clinic’s Heart & Vascular Institute, a nationally ranked heart program. As affiliates, Kaweah Health and Cleveland’s Clinic’s heart program will share best practices in patient care, outcomes measurement, quality reporting and clinical research. Other benefits include access to new treatments and technologies, collaborate in medical research, and medical education opportunities. Click HERE for more information on this affiliation.

Patients are most at risk for readmission immediately following discharge from the hospital when they are often trying to follow directions for new medication, make lifestyle changes and manage follow-up appointments. Kaweah Health comprehensively prepares all patients before discharge and offers a variety of programs for patients who need extra support when going home.

Our medical center has a special pharmacy program called “meds to bed” that provide bedside delivery for discharge medications. Pharmacists can visit patient rooms for extra instruction about high-risk conditions and the drugs used for treatment.

Upon discharge from the hospital cardiac patients may also be referred to our Cardiac Rehabilitation program. Click HERE for more information.

To learn more about Kaweah’s cardiovascular services, click HERE.

How can patients and families support safety?

An important part of leaving the hospital is understanding how to manage your health conditions. This includes knowing about any medications, dietary restrictions, physical activity recommendations, and follow up care. Talk to your care team if you or a loved one has questions during the transition or after discharge.

Prevent heart disease by knowing the risk factors for heart disease by visiting the American Heart Association website HERE.