February 8, 2016 — MedStar Heart & Vascular Institute at MedStar Washington Hospital Center is one of two hospitals in the nation selected to partner with the American College of Cardiology (ACC) on the Find Your Heart a Home pilot program. The campaign is aimed at empowering patients when making their heart care decisions.
In this era of healthcare transparency, patients and their families want access to credible information about quality of care to help them make informed decisions. Consumers consult online search tools to make decisions on restaurants and hotels, and now they can do the same for their cardiovascular care.
Find Your Heart a Home is a first-of-its-kind hospital comparison database for cardiac care. It allows patients and caregivers, to search and compare hospitals based on the cardiac services they provide and important information on the quality of care they deliver.
“Transparency in healthcare is a growing expectation among patients and their caregivers,” said Allen J. Taylor, M.D., FACC, FAHA, chief of cardiology at MedStar Heart & Vascular Institute. “The Find Your Heart a Home tool can offer the transparency patients are seeking and help eliminate the information clutter by giving them reliable information they need to make informed choices. We are proud to be partnering with ACC on this important pilot project.”
Find Your Heart a Home is populated with data from the National Cardiovascular Data Registry, which tracks certain heart care procedures performed at hospitals nationwide. It rated MedStar Washington Hospital Center based on 1,810 cardiac catheterization and angioplasty procedures, and 520 implanted cardiac defibrillators. For each aspect of care evaluated, the Hospital Center’s performance earned the maximum four stars.
The tool is part of ACC’s CardioSmart initiative, a website full of educational information and tools to help guide patients on their heart health journey.
For more information: www.findyourheartahome.org
May 01, 2024 
