SHEIKH KHALIFA MEDICAL CITY RECEIVES INTERNATIONAL ACCREDITATION AS CHEST PAIN CENTER

Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) managed by Cleveland Clinic was accredited by the Society of Chest Pain Centers as a cycle III Chest Pain Center. SKMC is owned and operated by SEHA, the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company, which is responsible for the curative activities of all the public hospitals and clinics in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

The Society of Chest Pain Centers (SCPC) is a non-profit international society dedicated to the belief that heart disease can be eliminated as the number one cause of death worldwide. The Society’s accreditation is recognized as internationally through which Chest Pain Centers are evaluated in order to ensure that these centers exceed quality-of-care measures based on improving the process of care for all patients presenting to the Emergency Department with chest pain.

In its continuous pursuit of excellence in providing best international medical practices in cardiovascular healthcare delivery, the Cardiac Sciences Institute at SKMC was proudly recognized and accredited as a Cycle III Chest Pain Center, an achievement bestowed on only a dozen hospitals in the world, all of which were in the US before SKMC’s Accreditation. The on-site evaluation of SKMC occurred on first week of June 2009 and was conducted by a team of international health care experts including cardiologists from the Society of Chest Pain Centers.

SEHA’s Chairman, H.E. Saif Bader Al Qubaisi stated that, “This is in keeping with our mission to deliver world class healthcare to our patients and our vision to be compared with the best hospitals internationally.  We are very proud of this accomplishment and would like to congratulate the employees at SKMC whose hard work and dedication to excellence helped achieve this honour”.

Dr. Ali Abdulkarim Al Obaidli, Clinical Affairs Director for SEHA added, “The accreditation process as a Chest Pain Center has played a vital role in monitoring the emergency and cardiac services delivery at SKMC. The accreditation status granted from the Society of Chest Pain Center ensures that SKMC is consistently delivering the highest standards of quality services and has attained a high level of patient satisfaction.”

Dr. Scott Strong, Chief Executive Officer at SKMC, believes that SKMC achieved this accreditation because of the on-going commitment of many professional groups in the Cardiac Sciences Institute and Emergency Medicine Department. Their collective and collaborative effort ensures that the delivery of care to SKMC patients presenting with chest pain is of the highest standard.

Dr. Strong emphasized the value of the accreditation process for the whole organization. “The process of accreditation also allowed for an external reviewer to validate our performance and recognize our areas of excellence in angioplasty services, invasive cardiology and emergency medicine. We are honored to be recognized as a Chest Pain Center and the only one categorized under Cycle lll outside the USA.”

There are 250 accredited Chest Pain Centers in the USA and out of 250 only 12 including SKMC are Cycle III accredited. Cycle III accreditation involves more extensive involvement in chest pain quality improvement projects, extensive staff education training in dealing with chest pain, higher staff credentials in cardiovascular diseases, and more outreach and community education about chest pain.

Dr. Wael Al Mahmeed, Deputy Chief Medical Officer at SKMC stated that “the achievement of being recognized as a Chest Pain Center is the result of a long lasting partnership between the Cardiac Sciences Institute and Emergency Medicine at SKMC as well as the emergency ambulance unit of Abu Dhabi police. We continuously attend periodic meetings with Abu Dhabi Police to discuss quality measures to bring chest pain sufferers as soon as possible to the hospital”.

Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death in the United Arab Emirates. The prevalence of CAD in the UAE is approximately 6- 12%. Sufferers from CAD present as acute coronary syndrome which is an umbrella term used to cover any group of symptoms compatible with lack of blood supply to the heart.

Dr. Norbert Augustin, Chairman of Cardiac Sciences Institute stated “There were a total of 1198 cases of Acute Coronary Syndrome and Chest pain discharged from SKMC during the year 2008. Looking at the first five weeks of 2009, we have witnessed a 10% increase in the number of acute coronary syndrome and chest pain cases received at our Emergency Department”.

Chest Pain Centers as SKMC allow physicians to reduce time to treatment during the critical early stages of a heart attack, when treatments are most effective, and to better monitor patients when it is not clear whether they are having a coronary event. Such observation helps ensure that a patient is neither sent home too early nor needlessly admitted.

Dr. Nazar Al Bustani, Medical Director of Chest Pain Center said  ” SKMC is the only center in the Middle East to provide primary angioplasty which implies that patient with heart attacks presenting at the Emergency Department are transferred directly to the cardiac catheterization suite to perform therapeutic cardiac catheterization. Commenting on that, According to well documented clinical studies and American guidelines, the door to balloon time for an effective primary angioplasty for an acute coronary syndrome case has to be less than 90 minutes in average which means that the interval time between the minute the patient arrives our emergency department to the time the blocked artery is opened has to be less than 90 minutes. In fact, our average door to balloon time is significantly lower than internationally set time of 90 minutes which is a target that requires extensive quality improvement process.”

Dr. Murray Van Dyke, Emergency Medicine Chairman at SKMC explained “To earn this accreditation status, facilities must exceed a wide set of stringent criteria which SKMC has met and has sometimes exceeded including the close collaboration of our Emergency Medicine, Cardiac Sciences Institute with the Abu Dhabi Ambulance System; emergency assessment of patients with symptoms of chest pain in a timely manner; continuous quality improvement process; credentialing physicians, nurses, and technical staff in dealing with chest pain cases; obtaining functional facility design for optimal patient care; and providing community outreach education in chest pain”.

Recently, SKMC conducted a continuous medical education program to the health providers of emergency ambulance service and continuously educates the public about the early symptoms of heart disease and the contributing risk factors to atherosclerotic coronary artery disease. Extensive medical pathways and protocols have also been developed to efficiently deal with chest pain patients based on well-established international guidelines and clinical studies.

About SKMC

Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC), located in Abu Dhabi, UAE, operates under the management of Cleveland Clinic, named among the top hospitals in the USA by U.S. News and World Report. SKMC is owned by SEHA, the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company, recently established to oversee operations of all public hospitals in the Emirate. SKMC is the flagship institution for the public health system in Abu Dhabi and has several 'Centers of Excellence,' and aspires to practice contemporary medicine comparable to the best hospitals and medical centers in the world. SKMC provides comprehensive health care services in all of the disciplines relevant to the needs and priorities of the community to attain the highest levels of patient satisfaction.

SKMC consists of a 520-bed Acute Care Hospital and 14 specialized outpatient clinics accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCI). In addition, SKMC manages a 125-bed Behavior Sciences Pavilion, a 88-bed Rehabilitation Center, 1 Urgent Care Center, 5 Family Medicine Clinics, 2 Primary Healthcare Centers, and 2 Dental Centers distributed over the city of Abu Dhabi. For further information, contact Farah I. Al Alami, Senior Media & Marketing Officer, at falalami@skmc.gov.ae

About the Society of Chest Pain Centers (SCPC)

The Society of Chest Pain Centers is a patient centric non-profit international professional organization focused upon improving care for patients with acute coronary syndromes and other related maladies.  Established in 1998, the Society is dedicated to patient advocacy and focusing on ischemic heart disease. Central to its mission is the question, “What is right for the patient?”  In answer, the Society promotes protocol based medicine, often delivered through a Chest Pain Center model to address the diagnosis and treatment of acute coronary syndromes, heart failure, and to promote the adoption of process improvement science by healthcare providers.  To best fulfill this mission, the Society of Chest Pain Centers provides accreditation to facilities striving for optimum Chest Pain Center care.  SCPC is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. For more information on the Society of Chest Pain Centers visit www.scpcp.org.

About SEHA - Abu Dhabi Health Services Company

SEHA is health in Arabic.  The Abu Dhabi Health Services Company – whose corporate identity is SEHA – is an independent, public joint stock company created to manage and develop the curative activities of the public hospitals and clinics of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.  SEHA is committed to providing quality, cost effective healthcare on par with international standards measured through accessibility, affordability, choice and satisfaction.  SEHA manages 8 hospital systems totaling 12 facilities, 2,644 licensed beds, more than 65 Ambulatory, Primary Health and ancillary care clinics.  SEHA employs more than 15,500 doctors, nurses and other clinical staff and administration.

For further information, visit our website at www.seha.ae.