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Following a nod from the Maryland Health Care Commission last month, Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville became one of only four hospitals in the state participating in a multi-state clinical study of a new elective heart procedure.
The commission approved a two-year waiver that allows Shady Grove to perform non-primary, or elective, percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI), based on the quality of the hospital's cardiac program and patient outcomes as assessed by the health care board, hospital officials announced. Shady Grove and the other hospitals applied to be considered for the waiver.
"We thank the commission for granting Shady Grove Adventist Hospital this waiver and for recognizing the quality of the care and high volume of patients in our PCI program," Shady Grove President Dennis Hansen said in a prepared statement.
PCI involves the insertion of a balloon-type device into a patient's artery to open a blockage. Primary PCI is performed in emergency situations, such as when a patient arrives at a hospital suffering from a heart attack.
Elective PCI, also known as elective angioplasty, is used to improve quality of life and lessen symptoms for patients with angina and other conditions related to coronary artery disease, the hospital reported. In Maryland, elective PCI is only allowed in hospitals that have on-site cardiac surgery, unless they are granted a waiver by the Maryland Health Care Commission. Shady Grove Adventist Hospital does not have an on-site cardiac surgery program.
Primary PCI has been performed at Shady Grove since 1996.
In obtaining the waiver to perform elective PCI, Shady Grove becomes a research site for the Atlantic Cardiovascular Patient Outcomes Team. The group is conducting a multi-state clinical research trial to see whether non-primary PCI performed in hospitals without on-site cardiac surgery services is as safe and effective as when performed in hospitals with on-site cardiac surgery services.
Several hospitals in Maryland already perform the surgery because they offer cardiac surgery services on site, including Washington Adventist Hospital in Montgomery County, Prince George's Hospital Center, Sacred Heart Hospital in Western Maryland, Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and St. Joseph Medical Center in Baltimore County.
"Obtaining this waive r… is acknowledgement that our hospital and all members of our cardiac team have performed in an exemplary manner in providing primary PCI to our patients over the past 12 years," Dr. Dennis Friedman, medical director of cardiac services at Shady Grove, said in a statement. "This waiver now allows us the privilege to participate in the [Atlantic Cardiovascular Patient Outcomes Team] study and enhance our cardiac program."
He said that there are about 20 other states that offer non-primary PCI at hospitals without a cardiac surgery program in place, but the four hospitals that received the waiver become the first in Maryland to do so.
The three other hospitals selected to receive waivers for elective PCI are Anne Arundel Medical Center, Southern Maryland Hospital Center and St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore.
