Assessment of the Heart's Pumping Ability
Why is this important?
For individuals with congestive heart failure, making sure that the heart is pumping blood effectively is the best way to avoid death and ensure quality of life. Physicians use the “left ventricular ejection fraction” to measure how much blood their patient’s heart is capable of pumping. Completely healthy hearts, for example, have an ejection fraction of 50%. For patients with heart failure, it is important that physicians document this important information. It can be determined through a simple test, such as an echocardiogram.
How WellSpan Compares
Last year, York Hospital and Gettysburg Hospital treated 921 patients with heart failure. The following shows the percentage of these patients whose heart’s pumping ability was documented upon discharged.
Unit of Measurement:
Percentage
A higher score is better than a lower score.
What we are doing to improve our performance.
| WellSpan has formed a special team, known as the “Congestive Heart Failure Clinical Effectiveness Team,” to work with doctors and nurses who care for heart failure patients at York Hospital and Gettysburg Hospital. So far, the team has revised and standardized forms that doctors and nurses use and the procedures they follow to make sure every heart failure patient has his or her heart’s pumping ability measured and documented during their hospitalization. This group will continue to monitor current medical literature on heart failure and WellSpan’s success in treating it. They will recommend other improvement steps if necessary. |
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