Spotlight Interview: The Georgia Heart Center

The Georgia Heart Center recently received a five-star report card rating from HealthGrades.com, Inc., reflecting the hospital's superior quality of care in its heart program. This rating places them in the top 10 percent of medical facilities nationwide for its heart program, out of approximately 5,000 hospitals.

What can you tell us about your facility?

Our EP lab is part of the Georgia Heart Center at the Medical Center of Central Georgia. MCCG was founded in 1895 and has become a premier health care provider. We are a 518-bed teaching hospital. The Georgia Heart Center has been named one of the top 100 cardiovascular centers in the U.S.

What is the size of your EP lab facility and number of staff members? What is the mix of credentials at your lab?

MCCG is the only hospital in our area that provides EP services. The EP lab has a mix of six RNs and two Cardiovascular Specialists. One RN acts as a team leader in each of the labs. They report to the Assistant Vice President/Director of the Georgia Heart Center. We have one electrophysiologist who keeps the labs very busy. In addition to the EP physician, there are 3 cardiologists who implant pacemakers.

What types of procedures are performed at your facility? Approximately how many are performed each week? What complications do you find during these procedures?

The electrophysiology lab procedures include diagnostic EP studies, radiofrequency ablation, implantable cardioverter-defibrillators, PPM, bi-ventricular pacemaker implantations, tilt table studies, cardioversions, and TEEs.

Is the EP lab separate from the cath lab?

The EP lab is separate from the cath lab; therefore, the employees are not cross-trained.

Do you have cross-training inside the EP lab? What are the regulations in your state?

Our staff is cross-trained in all areas except conscious sedation. Only RNs perform this responsibility due to hospital regulations. All staff members are ACLS-certified.

What are some of the new equipment, devices and products introduced at your lab lately? How has this changed the way you perform those procedures?

The staff is trained to operate several pieces of equipment, including the stimulator and monitoring equipment, mapping system, and radiofrequency generator.

Who handles your procedure scheduling? Do you use a particular software? How do you handle physician timeliness?

Scheduling is handled through a centralized scheduling office in the Georgia Heart Center. An admissions nurse picks up packets from the MD offices that contain H & P s, consents, and any recent lab work or diagnostic testing reports. This facilitates the admission process on the day of the procedure. Ideally, when a patient arrives on the day of the procedure, there should not be a delay in the pre-op/prep area. How does your lab handle hemostasis (i.e., manual or vascular closure devices, where do patients go, who is responsible?) The recovery room personnel handles post-procedure hemostasis. The method used to obtain hemostasis for electrophysiology patients is manual pressure.

How is inventory managed at your EP lab? Who handles the purchasing of equipment and supplies?

The Georgia Heart Center Inventory Control manager handles inventory. She makes daily checks of the stock used and reorders it as needed. Many items are restocked daily by R & D and a minimum or par level is always available.

Has your EP lab recently expanded in size and patient volume, or will it be in the near future?

Our EP lab has experienced a great deal of increase in volume, and we expect to have another electrophysiologist on staff this summer.

How has managed care affected your EP lab and the care it provides patients?

Managed care has not had an impact on our program since we are the only provider of EP services in the Central Georgia area.