November 11, 2008

Mercy Medical Center—Des Moines was chosen as a recipient of the American College of Cardiology Foundation’s NCDR ACTION Registry–GWTG (Get With The Guidelines) Silver Performance Achievement Award for its high level of consistency in following treatment guidelines for heart care. Nationwide, only 93 other hospitals received the Silver Performance Award, the highest award granted by the ACTION Registry®-GWTG™.

To receive the award, Mercy consistently followed treatment guidelines in certain key measures at least 85 percent of the time for 12 consecutive months. These include aggressive use of medications like cholesterol-lowering drugs, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, aspirin and anticoagulants in the hospital.

“Mercy has long been recognized as an innovator in developing and providing leading edge cardiac care to central Iowans,” said Al McClatchey, COO of the Mercy Heart Hospital. “This award is evidence of our physicians, nurses and staff members’ hard work and commitment to providing safer, more effective care for cardiovascular patients.”

The American College of Cardiology Foundation’s NCDR ACTION Registry® and the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-CAD program merged to form ACTION Registry–GWTG—a single, unified national registry that 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 STEMI and NSTEMI patients.