Chest Pain Accreditation

Chest pain can be the result of many different causes. But if it's being triggered by a heart attack, there's no time to lose. That's why Alegent Creighton Health, the area's leading provider of cardiovascular care, has established the Chest Pain Center.

Accredited Chest Pain Centers are located within the emergency departments at all six Alegent Creighton Health metro hospitals. These centers serve as a triage point to quickly diagnose and treat chest pain, allowing patients to receive the level of care that is most appropriate for their condition.

Alegent Creighton Health has acheived Chest Pain Center accreditation since 2007. To earn this distinction, our six metro area hospitals engaged in rigorous evaluation by the SCPC for our ability to assess, diagnose, and treat patients who may be experiencing a heart attack. To the community served by Alegent Creighton Health, this means that processes are in place that meet strict criteria aimed at:

• Reducing the time from onset of symptoms to diagnosis and treatment
• Treating patients more quickly during the critical window of time when the integrity of the heart muscle can be preserved
• Monitoring patients when it is not certain that they are having a heart attack to ensure that they are not sent home too quickly or needlessly admitted to the hospital

Learn how Alegent Creighton Health treats chest pain.

Heart Failure Accreditation

Heart failure is a chronic, progressive condition that means the heart isn't able to pump enough blood for your body's needs.A diagnosis of heart failure does not mean the heart has stopped working. It does mean the heart is muscle has weakened over time. Early diagnosis and treatment can improve quality of life and life expectancy.

Alegent Creighton Health has acheived Heart Failure Accreditation by the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care. This means that all six metro area hospitals have met or exceeded a wide set of stringent criteria established by the SCPC and undergone an onsite review by a team of accreditation review specialists.

Key areas in which we have demonstrated heart failure expertise include the following:

• Emergency Department integration with emergency medical services
• Emergency assessment of patients with symptoms of acute decompensated heart failure-diagnosis
• Risk stratification of the heart failure patient
• Treatment for patients presenting to the Emergency Department in heart failure
• Heart failure discharge criteria from the Emergency Department, observation stay or inpatient stay
• Heart failure patient education in the Emergency Department, observation and inpatient unit
• Personnel, competencies and training
• Process improvement
• Organizational structure and commitment
• Heart failure community outreach

Learn how Alegent Creighton Health treats heart failure.

Atrial Fibrillation Certification

Atrial fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrhythmia and has become recognized as a health concern that in some cases can lead to stroke and possible death. Nearly 3 million patients in the United States have atrial fibrillation and the numbers are rapidly increasing as our population ages. Atrial fibrillation patients use more healthcare services and have much higher healthcare costs than those without the disease.

Key areas in which Alegent Creighton Health has demonstrated atrial fibrillation expertise include the following:

• Emergency Department integration with emergency medical services
• Emergency assessment of patients with atrial fibrillation
• Risk stratification of the atrial fibrillation patient
• Treatment for patients presenting to the Emergency Department in atrial fibrillation
• Atrial fibrillation discharge criteria from the Emergency Department, observation services, or inpatient stay
• Atrial fibrillation patient education in the Emergency Department, observation services, and inpatient unit
• Personnel, competencies and training
• Process improvement
• Organizational structure and commitment
• Atrial fibrillation community outreach

Learn how Alegent Creighton Health treats atrial fibrillation.