Beta Blocker on Arrival
Why is this important?
Beta blockers are a type of medicine used to lower blood pressure and treat chest pain (also known as angina) and heart failure. Beta blockers can help to prevent a heart attack. They relieve stress on the heart by slowing the heart rate and reducing the force with which the heart pumps blood. While not all heart attack patients should receive beta blockers, most of them should be given a beta blocker within 24 hours of arriving at the hospital.
How WellSpan Compares
Last year, York Hospital and Gettysburg Hospital treated 750 patients with heart attack. The following shows the percentage of patients (for whom beta blockers were appropriate) who were given beta blocker upon arrival.
Unit of Measurement:
Percentage
A higher score is better than a lower score.
What we are doing to improve our performance.
|
A team of WellSpan doctors, nurses and other care givers, known as the “Heart Attack Clinical Effectiveness Team,” meets regularly to review important information and strategies for improving care for heart attack patients. Improvement steps include implementation of standardized forms which lists essential medications and check boxes to indicate why medications were not administered/ordered.
So far, this team has revised and standardized forms that doctors and nurses use and the procedures they follow to make sure that everyone who should receive a beta blocker does receive a beta blocker when they arrive. They also have developed important patient education material. WellSpan will continue to monitor the success of these changes and recommend other improvement steps as necessary. |
|
|