Emergency Heart Care: Heart Team STAT
Heart Team STAT is a process that allows us to help heart attack patients faster. By following this care plan, we reduce the time it takes to clear the coronary artery (which wraps around the heart) with a treatment called percutaneous coronary intervention, or simply angioplasty. The faster we open the coronary artery, the better the results for our patients.
National guidelines indicate that a blocked coronary artery should be cleared in 90 minutes or less from the time a patient arrives at the hospital. North Memorial consistently opens blocked arteries in less than half that time. In fact, one Department of Health and Human Services quality study** showed 100 percent of North Memorial's patients received PCI in under 90 minutes. No other Twin Cities hospital performed at that level.
Heart Team STAT by the Numbers
The following statistics reflect what are sometimes referred to as "door-to-balloon" times. Each figure shows the number of minutes from the time a patient arrives at the "door" our facility to the time blood flow is restored to the heart by inserting and inflating a small "balloon" into the blocked coronary artery (angioplasty). Depending on her or his method of arrival, a patient may first be quickly evaluated and stabilized in our ER or go directly to our cardiac catherization ("cath") lab for PCI.
Few hospitals open blocked arteries faster than North Memorial Medical Center. Our times are among the top 5 percent nationwide, reducing cardiac damage and improving outcomes for patients who suffer a heart attack.*
* Top 5 percent of hospitals that submit data for the JCAHO QI Project.
** As reported by the Joint Commission website, www.qualitycheck.org
