Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi has earned the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for the fourth year in a row.

The award recognizes Baptist North Mississippi’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients according to the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association’s clinical standards of care. Baptist North Mississippi is one of only 240 hospitals nationwide to receive the honor.

“We are proud to be recognized for providing high-level, quality cardiac care for our community,” said Bill Henning, administrator and CEO of Baptist North Mississippi. “This recognition is an honor for our hospital, and a testament to the expertise and efforts of our team.”

To receive the 2022 Chest Pain ̶MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award, Baptist North Mississippi has demonstrated sustained achievement in the Chest Pain ̶MI Registry for two consecutive years (2020 and 2021), and performed at the highest level for specific performance measures.

Full participation in the registry immerses hospitals in a robust quality improvement process using data to drive improvements in adherence to guideline recommendations and overall quality of care provided to heart attack patients.

“It is an honor to award the Baptist North Mississippi cardiology team the Platinum Performance Award for their valuable national leadership and dedication to meeting comprehensive performance measures in patient care,” said Dr. Michael C. Kontos, FACC, chair of the NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Steering Subcommittee, and cardiologist at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. “The receipt of this award indicates that Baptist North Mississippi remains committed to providing top-quality, guideline-driven care for heart attack patients. The hospital’s success ensures patients receive the highest quality cardiovascular care.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 800,000 Americans suffer a heart attack each year. A heart attack occurs when a blood clot in a coronary artery partially or completely blocks blood flow to the heart muscle. Treatment guidelines include administering aspirin upon arrival and discharge, timely restoration of blood flow to the blocked artery, smoking cessation counseling and cardiac rehabilitation, among other interventions.

Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry empowers health care provider teams to consistently treat heart attack patients according to the most current, science-based guidelines and establishes a national standard for understanding and improving the quality, safety and outcomes of care provided for patients with coronary artery disease, specifically high-risk heart attack patients.