For more information, contact:
Susan Burns/MPRO
(248) 465-7375 / sburns@mpro.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MPRO AND STATE HOSPITALS PROVIDE DADS WITH HEARTY GIFT: IMPROVED CARDIAC CARE
Farmington Hills, MI June 8, 2006 - This Father’s Day, why not take the time to talk with Dad about his health and the health care treatments he receives? The nation has seen an “epidemic increase” in heart failure and related hospitalizations between the 1970s and 1990s, according to a federal study published in the February 2006 issue of Circulation, a journal from the American Heart Association. The increase in prevalence rates and hospitalizations affect more men than women, which means it affects our fathers.
MPRO, the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) for Michigan, is hard at work with hospitals to increase the odds of surviving a heart attack or heart failure. To improve heart care, MPRO is working with Michigan hospitals to increase the percentage of patients treated appropriately for heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia. For example, a patient in the emergency room with a heart attack should receive a minimum level of care, such as an aspirin upon their arrival in the emergency room and a beta blocker when they are discharged from the hospital.
“Michigan hospitals are constantly improving the care their cardiac patients receive. The best learning seems to happen when the hospitals share successful strategies with each other. MPRO is happy to provide learning forums and resources for them to continuously improve patient care and safety,” said Nancy Vecchioni, RN, MSN, CPHQ, MPRO director of Patient Safety.
QIOs across the country are assisting both rural and urban hospitals in improving performance on an Appropriate Care Measure (ACM). The ACM is a composite of 10 measures of care encompassing patients treated for acute myocardial infarction (heart attack), heart failure or pneumonia.
- Medicare and MPRO are working to improve health care so that if Dad ever needs heart care treatment, he will receive the best care possible. For more information on state and local QIO efforts to improve heart care and other healthcare services—in settings such as nursing homes, physician offices and home health care—contact Beverly Moody, MPRO communications manager at (248) 465-7378.
Improved Cardiac Care, add one
Consumers may also compare how hospitals in a particular area—or across the country—are faring on various cardiac care measures by visiting www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov or by calling 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).
About MPRO
MPRO is the designated Medicare Quality Improvement Organization in Michigan. Under the direction of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the QIO works with consumers and physicians, hospitals, and other caregivers to refine care delivery systems to make sure patients get the right care at the right time, particularly patients from underserved populations. The Program also safeguards the integrity of the Medicare Trust Fund by ensuring that payment is made only for medically necessary services, and investigates beneficiary complaints about quality of care. There are 1.5 million Medicare beneficiaries in Michigan.
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