Specialist Heart Care

The special report on cardiac care by the Gannett News Service looks at how hospitals compared in providing recommended procedures of care for sufferers of heart attack and heart failure. A deeper analysis of the report shows that the nature of heart ailments in the US is serious with heart diseases being the cause of most deaths in the US alone.

The report also was indicative of the nature of treatment. It said that some hospitals could do better. Its data is got from the US centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The entire year's worth of data is analyzed to show how many times hospitals provided recommended drugs. Its also gives the percentage of times known treatments or recommendations were provided to heart attack and heart failure patients.

A hundred and two hospitals in Indiana reported data, of these; eight earned the top five-star rating in both categories. This means that they ranked in the top 20 percent in each category from a list of all U.S. hospitals. St. Elizabeth Hospital has four stars to its credit for its treatment of heart attack cases and two stars for treatment of heart failure cases. Home Hospital that sees a fraction of the heart cases received four stars and one star, respectively.

Some hospital officials question the cut-and-dried grading system. They think it unfair that based on one year's worth of data the metrics are not of much value. Some are of the opinion that this is useful for pointing out areas of weakness. Officials at St. Elizabeth say it has helped them improve in at least one area. Their percentage of heart failure patients receiving discharge instructions was 42 percent, presently it is improved to 87 percent.

The best medicine is prevention and the standard advice to heart patients is stop smoking, eat less fat, Exercise and get regular checkups. Another advice to those who do not have heart problems or those having is that if someone you know is experiencing chest pain or other symptoms of a heart attack, call 911. Since the sooner they receive medical attention, the greater the chance of survival as it prevents permanent heart damage.