Twenty-three hospitals from across Arkansas have joined the Arkansas Heart Attack Registry (AHAR), a collaborative effort to reduce the impact of myocardial infarctions (MI) in the state, THV 11 reported this week.
Arkansas ranked number one in 2016 for the highest heart attack death rate in the U.S., according to THV, and that year alone saw 2,922 Arkansans die from MI.
“What gets measured gets improved,” Appathurai Balamurugan, the medical director for the Chronic Disease Branch at the Arkansas Department of Health, said. “This registry is a unique opportunity to address a leading cause of death and disability in Arkansas.”
The AHAR’s program launched this month as part of a surveillance and quality improvement effort from the Arkansas Department of Health. Its primary goals are to monitor care performance, educate the public and improve heart attack patient care and outcomes.
The Registry is overseen by the state’s STEMI Advisory Council, a group of interventional cardiologists, emergency care providers, nurses and public health officials who will take the lead on the project.
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After graduating from Indiana University-Bloomington with a bachelor’s in journalism, Anicka joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering cardiology. Close to her heart is long-form journalism, Pilot G-2 pens, dark chocolate and her dog Harper Lee.