Michigan residents who suffer heart attacks will get faster treatment with the most effective emergency heart procedures, under a new multi-hospital initiative being launched in Michigan this week.
And the speedier treatment will give them a better shot at survival and long-term health.
Representatives from more than 35 hospitals will gather today in Ann Arbor for a day-long meeting to kick off a new statewide project coordinated by the Michigan Chapter of the American College of Cardiology and the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center with support from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan/Blue Care Network.
Their main goal: to reduce the time it takes to deliver heart-attack care ? from the minute a patient arrives at the emergency room to the minute when doctors inflate a tiny balloon to re-open the blocked arteries that cause most heart attacks.
?Every minute that can be saved is critical, because it keeps a bit of the patient?s heart muscle from dying or being weakened by lack of oxygen,? says U-M?s Mauro Moscucci, M.D., who will help lead the project. ?In other words, time is muscle.?
?This is an example of a health plan, hospitals and doctors working together to make our state a national leader in improving the quality and efficiency of heart attack care,? says Thomas Simmer, M.D., BCBSM senior vice president and chief medical officer.
Studies have shown that patients who get the treatment ? called angioplasty ? within 90 minutes of arriving at the hospital have the best chance of surviving, and lower chances of long-term effects from their heart attack. Because angioplasty is performed using a tiny balloon, experts often refer to the time leading up to treatment as ?door to balloon time? or D2B time.
The Michigan project is part of the American College of Cardiology?s national campaign called ?Door to Balloon: An Alliance for Quality.? Many other health organizations including The American Heart Association are project partners.