Rigorous Commitment to Quality of Care

Harrison Medical Center is dedicated to providing the highest quality care and service. We rigorously monitor and report performance data to assist us in improving the quality of care we provide to our patients. Much of this data is publicly reported so our progress in meeting our quality vision goals for world-class care can be viewed by our community and the general public. Learn more about Harrison’s general quality measurements.

In the area of cardiac and vascular care, Harrison participates in several programs of major importance:

Get With The Guidelines® Stroke

Get With The Guidelines® Stroke is a program that helps hospitals implement and follow the most recent American Heart Association/American Stroke Association scientific guidelines for patient treatment. Harrison began voluntary participation in January 2010 so we could continue to improve the treatment and care results for stroke patients.

We are pleased to announce that Harrison's coordinated program of identifying and treating stroke patients earned the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get with the Guidelines® Stroke Bronze Quality Achievement Award. Our commitment and success sets a higher standard, ensuring you receive exceptional care right here in your own community.

COAP (Clinical Outcomes Assessment Program)

COAP is a physician-led initiative aimed at improving quality of care for patients with heart disease at more than 30 participating hospitals in Washington state. Member hospitals share information about their cardiac care performance and use this feedback to improve medical care. The program is administered by the Foundation for Health Care Quality. 

COAP data show that Harrison excels at door-to-balloon times. This is a measure of how quickly we perform lifesaving balloon angioplasty or coronary intervention in patients experiencing a heart attack. Our median time for 2009 was 59 minutes—well ahead of the state median of 69 minutes. The recommended national goal is 90 minutes.

Click on the Publicly Released COAP Data page to compare Harrison’s performance with the Washington state average for each of the measures.

Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Quality Rating and Data Reporting

Harrison’s cardiothoracic team submits clinical data to the Society of Thoracic Surgeons adult cardiac database. STS provides surgeons with information about their performance compared to other programs around the country.

A three-star rating from STS denotes the highest quality in cardiothoracic surgery programs. Our heart team has achieved this impressive designation by providing patients with exceptional surgical care for all consecutive reporting periods July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2010. This three-star rating puts us in the top 10 percent of nearly 1,100 hospitals in the U.S. that report similar data.

Core Measures for AMI (acute myocardial infarction) and Heart Failure

Core measures were established in 2002 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS). They are designed to guide the Joint Commission in the identification, implementation, and ongoing use of tools for measuring and improving patient care. (The Joint Commission accredits and certifies more than 18,000 healthcare organizations and programs in the U.S. This accreditation and certification is recognized nationwide as a symbol of quality that reflects an organization’s commitment to meeting certain performance standards.) In 2003, the Joint Commission worked with CMS to create identical AMI and heart failure core measures. Data about heart attack and heart failure treatments is tracked, reported, and used to continually improve the healthcare delivery process. Harrison’s participation in this program is voluntary.

ACTION Registry®-GWTG™ (Get With The Guidelines)

This quality program establishes a national standard for understanding treatment patterns, clinical outcomes, drug safety, and overall quality of care provided to high-risk AMI patients. It also ensures that scientific guidelines for patient treatment defined and updated by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association are applied consistently. Harrison began voluntary participation in January 2010.

NCDR®: CARE Registry® and ICD Registery®

The American College of Cardiology Foundation sponsors the NCDR® (National Cardiovascular Data Registry), which is the most comprehensive, outcomes-based quality improvement registry for hospital-based and practice-based programs in the U.S. Specifically, Harrison participates in the CARE Registry® for carotid artery stenting and endarterectomy procedures and the ICD Registry® for tracking implantable cardioverter defibrillator procedures. Harrison provides, collects, and reports standardized clinical data elements that can be analyzed and compared for evidence-based quality improvement solutions that support our commitment to excellence in cardiovascular care.