The MultiCare team developed a unique way to respond to patients experiencing a cardiac emergency when they arrive at the hospital. The life-saving intervention provides fast heart attack treatment to minimize damage to the heart muscle.

Currently, the national standard for patients to receive life-saving interventional care following the onset of a heart attack is 90 minutes from the time of arrival at the hospital. The MultiCare team exceeds that standard by regularly getting patients to the catheterization lab in just 73 minutes, and often under 60 minutes. This dramatically increases patient’s chances for a positive, healthy outcome.

“Our guiding principle is, ‘time is heart muscle,’” said Cardiac Services Administrator Christi McCarren. “We have seen significant reductions in our heart attack mortality rate since initiating this program.”

MultiCare’s work is serving as a national example for reducing “door to treatment” times at hospitals around the country. The team was recently named as a “mentor hospital” by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), the leader in patient safety and healthcare improvement throughout the world.

This is the fourth award given to MultiCare in recent months for excellence in cardiac care. The cardiac team previously won the VHA 2006 Team Collaboration Award (Heart Attack Treatment); in February, Premera Blue Cross and Regence Blue Shield designated MultiCare’s Tacoma General Hospital as a Blue Distinction Center for Cardiac Care for excellence in providing cardiac care. Tacoma General was also designated as a UnitedHealth Premium Cardiac Specialty Center in 2006.