ST. LOUIS — The Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Heart & Vascular Center has been selected to participate in the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Patient Navigator Program, the first of its kind in cardiology designed to support hospitals in providing personalized services to heart disease patients and help them avoid a quick return to the hospital.

“We were one of 35 selected from nearly 300 eligible hospitals across the country,” said Nelda Martin, RN, CCNS, ANP-BC, STEMI coordinator. “This is an exciting opportunity for us. By participating in this program, we will help develop quality improvement strategies and best practices that will be applied not only locally, but nationwide to reduce readmissions and improve patient care.”

Nearly one in five patients hospitalized with a heart attack, and one in four patients hospitalized with heart failure are readmitted within 30 days of discharge, often for conditions unrelated to the original diagnosis. Readmissions can be related to issues like stresses within the hospital, fragility on discharge, lack of understanding of discharge instructions and inability to carry out discharge instructions.

“The ACC Patient Navigator Program provides evidence-based approaches to reducing hospital readmissions by meeting the unique needs of each patient,” said ACC President Patrick O’Gara, M.D., FACC.

Martin added, “Barnes-Jewish and Washington University have already greatly reduced the readmission rate for heart attack and heart failure patients. This grant will help sustain that gain and hopefully reduce the readmissions for this population even further.” 

The ACC Patient Navigator Program is an initiative of the American College of Cardiology with support from founding sponsor AstraZeneca. For more information and to see the complete list of participating hospitals, click here.

About Barnes-Jewish Hospital
Barnes-Jewish Hospital is a 1,315 bed teaching hospital affiliated with Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo. The hospital has a 1,763 member medical staff, with many recognized as "Best Doctors in America." Barnes-Jewish is a member of BJC HealthCare, which provides a full range of health care services through its 12 hospitals and more than 100 health care sites in Missouri and Illinois.   

Contact:
Kara Price Shannon
(314) 276-0715
[email protected]