Hillcrest Hospital South Receives Chest Pain Accreditation - KTUL.com - Tulsa, Oklahoma - News, Weather & Sports

Hillcrest Hospital South received full accreditation with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) from the Society of Chest Pain Centers (SCPC).

The accreditation, announced today, was received April 16th.

The SCPC accreditation process ensures hospitals and medical centers meet or exceed quality-of-care measures in acute cardiac medicine.

Hillcrest Hospital South is the only hospital in the Tulsa area to earn this accreditation.

The Accredited Chest Pain Center's protocol-driven and systematic approach to patient management allows physicians to reduce time-to-treatment during the critical early stages of a heart attack, when treatments are most effective, and to better monitor patients when it is not clear whether or not they are having a coronary event.

Such observation helps ensure that patients are neither sent home too early nor needlessly admitted.

"This accreditation is the result of many individuals and departments throughout our organization working together to improve care for our patients," said John Ivanoff, MD, an interventional cardiologist at Hillcrest South. "In cardiology, time is critical and every second counts."

Heart attacks are the leading cause of death in the United States, with 600,000 people dying annually of heart disease.

More than five million Americans visit hospitals each year with chest pain.

SCPC's goal is to significantly reduce the mortality rate of these patients by teaching the public to recognize and react to the early symptoms of a possible heart attack, reduce the time that it takes to receive treatment, and increase the accuracy and effectiveness of treatment.

Hillcrest Hospital South, formerly known as Southcrest, is located in the 8800 block of South 101st East Avenue in Tulsa.