John Muir Health Progress Report 2006/2007 - (Page 6) Delivering Extraordinary Care Andreas K amlot, M.D. Jatinder Dhillon, M.D. Cardiac Surgeons Exceedi ng patient expectations begins and ends with delivering the best possible patient care. At John Muir Health, this has always meant combining highly skilled and committed professionals with advanced medical technologies and systems. In 2006 and 2007 we have continued to do this very successfully. Our new Neurovascular Suite is just one example. The suite features a computerized patient table that moves freely through two planes of space and a highresolution imaging system that can produce very detailed 3-D pictures of even the smallest blood vessels and arteries. John Muir interventional radiologists can now treat aneurysms and other vascular malformations more effectively by delivering coils, stents, and other therapies with greater accuracy and precision. Also during the past year, both the Walnut Creek and Concord campuses instituted formal programs to strengthen and speed the care of emergency room patients suffering from chest pain. The goal of this program is more rapid assessment, diagnosis, and – if needed – treatment for individuals experiencing heart attacks. Both Emergency Departments are also well along in a related effort to meet strict requirements for designation as official STEMI (ST-elevation myocardial infarction [heart attack]) receiving centers for all 911 ambulance transport agencies in Contra Costa County. Another area where John Muir Health is extending and improving its alreadystrong capabilities is stroke. In June 2007 both the Walnut Creek and Concord campuses were recognized by the American Stroke Association for their achievement in its national Get With the Guidelines program. The Concord Campus received the more rigorous Gold Sustained Achievement award for logging 24 consecutive months of meeting the guidelines, while the Walnut Creek Campus was honored for meeting the guidelines for a full year (Silver). These include use of advanced interventional therapies (such as catheter-delivered clot-busting agents), use of cholesterol-lowering drugs, and comprehensive educational programs to reduce the risk factors for stroke. In addition to these and other medical achievements, John Muir Health has also worked hard to improve how we deliver care. We have begun implementing centralized scheduling and patient registration for all our facilities. And we are centralizing our core laboratory operations to speed diagnostic work and allow physicians to more quickly and easily access test results. Such improvements to our processes and systems make life easier for patients and they help our medical professionals do their job more effectively – which is all part of how we deliver extraordinary medical care at John Muir Health. John Muir has a long and distinguished reputation for extraordinary cardiac surgical care. To deliver optimal patient outcomes, John Muir Health surgeons Andreas Kamlot, MD and Jatinder Dhillon, MD, are focused on the development of innovative procedures that may not be available at other hospitals – and those procedures can mean less trauma and easier recovery. “Two good examples would be minimally invasive surgery and the highly advanced Ventricular Assist Device we offer at John Muir Health” says Dr. Kamlot. “With minimally invasive surgery, instead of opening the chest cavity with a large incision, we make a small 2 1/2 - inch incision and use longer, thinner versions of traditional surgical tools to access the heart. We can use this technique for valve repair and replacement, atrial fibrillation ablations, septal defect repair, or individual bypass grafts – and the results can be quite amazing. These patients are often back to their regular routines as 6
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