ANCHORAGE, ALASKA – The Alaska Heart & Vascular Institute (AHVI) was honored to receive the American College of Cardiology’s PINNACLE Registry Platinum Practice Center of Excellence Award in 2015. AHVI is one of only 36 practices nationwide and the only institution in Alaska to receive the honor.

AHVI strives to provide the highest quality of cardiovascular care for its patients throughout the state. The award recognizes AHVI’s commitment to implementing a higher standard of care for its patients with atrial fibrillation, who are at an increased risk of stroke, as well as the practice’s success in reaching the goal of treating these patients with superior levels of care.

“The American College of Cardiology is committed to heart disease patients receiving the best possible care and is proud to recognize the Alaska Heart & Vascular Institute for raising the bar in providing the highest standards of care for their patients,” said ACC President Kim Allan Williams, M.D., FACC.

To receive the PINNACLE Registry’s Platinum Practice Center of Excellence Award, AHVI demonstrated a platinum benchmark on the nationally recognized atrial fibrillation metric. Full participation in the registry engages practices in a robust quality improvement process using data to drive improvements in adherence.

Atrial fibrillation, the most common arrhythmia, affects more than 2.5 million Americans and is responsible for 15 to 20 percent of all strokes. Failure to adhere to clinical practice guideline recommendations for atrial fibrillation can result in the occurrence of preventable strokes.

“We’re incredibly proud to be the only institution in Alaska to receive this honor, as it reflects the hard work and dedication of our cardiologists and staff, who take great care in treating our patients and providing support for their families,” said Alaska Heart & Vascular Institute CEO Keli Hite McGee. “Being recognized as a Platinum Practice Center of Excellence is a great achievement and critical step in saving lives as well as improving outcomes for patients.”

The PINNACLE Registry, part of the ACC’s National Cardiovascular Data Registry, is the largest ambulatory registry of its kind with over 16 million patient encounters from over 2,800 cardiology providers, mostly cardiologists, across 845 unique office locations. The registry was designed to capture the data necessary to report on performance measures across chronic disease areas, including coronary artery disease, hypertension, heart failure and atrial fibrillation. The PINNACLE Registry places a premium on delivering value-added services to participants, including opportunities to use registry data for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Physician Quality Reporting System program and the ACC Performance Improvement-Continuing Medical Education programs.

The American College of Cardiology is a 49,000-member medical society that is the professional home for the entire cardiovascular care team. The mission of the College is to transform cardiovascular care and to improve heart health. The ACC leads in the formation of health policy, standards and guidelines. The College operates national registries to measure and improve care, provides professional medical education, disseminates cardiovascular research and bestows credentials upon cardiovascular specialists who meet stringent qualifications. For more information, visit ACC.org.

 The Alaska Heart & Vascular Institute provides unmatched cardiovascular care, screening and imaging. With six locations in the state, the Alaska Heart & Vascular Institute takes great pride in the quality, talent and experience of its board-certified physicians; certified advanced practice providers; and dedicated staff. More information is available at AlaskaHeart.com.

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