Parrish Medical Center granted state approval to perform elective angioplasty and stenting

Jan. 22, 2009 - PRLog -- Contact: Natalie Sellers, APR

Phone: 321-268-6110



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Parrish Medical Center granted state approval to perform elective angioplasty and stenting



TITUSVILLE, FL (January 22, 2009)—The State of Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), which regulates hospital services, has granted Parrish Medical Center (PMC) approval to perform elective coronary angioplasty and stenting. This comes just over one year after the medical center sought and earned approval from AHCA to perform these procedures on an emergency basis.

           “This is truly exciting news,” said PMC Chairman of the Board Jay Parrish, III. “This latest achievement is another example of Parrish Medical Center’s commitment to quality and excellence. We, the entire board of directors, are extremely proud of the hard work and dedication required by everyone involved to earn this achievement on behalf of the community we serve.”

“Earning state approval to perform elective angioplasties was our goal over a year ago when we applied for, and earned, emergent approval,” said PMC President/CEO George Mikitarian. “We knew legislation was being considered to expand AHCA rules from emergent to elective, so our team was proactive in developing a world-class cardiovascular program to a level that exceeds national quality best-practices,” said Mikitarian.

“Hospitals everywhere are striving to shorten the time a heart attack patient waits before receiving angioplasty,” said board-certified Interventional Cardiologist Biju Mathews, MD. “Our time-to-treatment not only exceeds national best practices standards, but our team outperforms even those centers with open-heart surgery on-site,” said Mathews.

“The national best practice time-to-treatment goal is 90 minutes. PMC’s time-to-treatment is 60 minutes or less, which is a full 30 minutes better than the best-of-the-best nationally,” added Harvard-trained board-certified Interventional Cardiologist Ravi Rao, MD.

The state requires and evaluates quality indicators like time-to-treatment, training of staff and cardiologists and other indicators as part of its approval process.

Coronary angioplasty is a procedure performed inside a catheterization lab to open clogged arteries in response to a heart attack. The procedure quickly restores blood flow through blocked arteries without the need for invasive open-heart surgery.

“With the advances in technology today, open-heart really is a last-resort intervention,” said Rao. “A majority of heart interventions and treatments can and are effectively performed in a catheterization suite and we are fortunate to have the newest, state-of-the-art cath suites available anywhere right here at PMC,” Rao added.

PMC’s cardiovascular program includes highly credentialed, board-certified interventional cardiologists Chapman Bean, MD, Biju Mathews, MD, and Ravi Rao, MD, and board-certified cardiologists David McMahon, MD, Kiran Modi, MD, Naresh Mody, MD, and Surya Rao, MD.

Cardiovascular services provided at PMC include:

Cardiac catheterization
Emergent coronary angioplasty and stenting
IVUS – Intravascular Ultrasound
Peripheral angiography, angioplasty, stenting and atherectomy
Carotid angiography
Permanent pacemakers, including biventricular pacemakers and implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs)
Cardiac and peripheral ultrasound, including echocardiograph, carotid artery and lower extremity arterial studies
AACVPR certified cardiac rehabilitation (outpatient)
Stress testing and all routine cardiac tests and treatments
Complementing the cardiovascular services at PMC are the four disease-specific Gold Seals for excellence and quality in the areas of Acute Coronary Syndrome, Heart Failure, Diabetes and Stroke from The Joint Commission, the premier accrediting organization for healthcare systems in the nation. PMC has earned a total of seven Gold Seals for quality and excellence, more than any other hospital in the area. In addition to those related to cardiovascular disease, PMC has Gold Seals in Breast Health, Palliative Care and Wound Healing.

Parrish Medical Center, nationally recognized as “one of America’s finest healing environments®” was voted America’s # 1 Healing Hospital and named a Modern Healthcare Magazine Spirit of Excellence Award Winner. PMC is a 210-bed, not-for-profit public medical center serving North Brevard for over 50 years. For more information, visit parrishmed.com or call 321-268-6110.

# # #

About Parrish Medical Center: Nationally recognized as “one of America’s finest healing environments®” was voted America’s # 1 Healing Hospital and named a Modern Healthcare Magazine Spirit of Excellence Award Winner. PMC is a 210-bed, not-for-profit public medical center serving North Brevard for over 50 years. For more information, visit parrishmed.com or call 321-268-6110.