The Heart of the Matter: The Medical City Launches New Initiative to Make Heart Attack Treatment More Accessible to Communities The Medical City’s Acute Myocardial Infarction Hub and Spoke Program Takes a Holistic Approach to Cardiac Care

The Medical City (TMC), one of the leading cardiac care institutions in the Philippines, has launched a new game-changing initiative to make heart attack treatment more accessible to communities. As heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the country, it is essential that individuals have access to quality care and timely interventions. This is where the program, called the Acute Myocardial Infarction Program (AMI) Hub and Spoke, comes in. It aims to provide a comprehensive approach to cardiac care that focuses on community engagement, public health education, and teamwork between healthcare professionals, patients, and the community.

TMC serves as the hub, with surrounding hospitals acting as spokes and enrolled as partners to decrease mortality from heart attacks and provide emergency angioplasty in a timely manner. The program’s primary aim is to extend the reach of world-class heart attack treatment to the surrounding community, making it accessible to the average individual.

Since starting the Acute Myocardial Infarction Clinical Care Program in 2012, The Medical City’s Cardiovascular Institute (CVI) has seen a drop in heart attack inpatient mortality from approximately 10% to an average of 5-6%, a figure comparable to that seen in first-world countries.

The program focuses on the acute treatment of heart attack patients: fast diagnosis, a quick response team, and facilitated transfer to the cardiac catheterization laboratory where a skilled team of interventional cardiologists perform a procedure to diagnose the problem and open a blocked artery in the heart (coronary angioplasty/ stenting). The goal of intervention is to open the blocked artery within 30 minutes of the diagnosis of the heart attack, in order to restore blood flow quickly to heart muscle, thus preventing a large heart attack and its consequences. Once stabilized, patient then undergoes a comprehensive treatment and rehabilitation process enabling them to recover quickly and to return to their normal lives.

Since 2015, The Medical City’s AMI Clinical Care Program has been certified as meeting stringent international standards by the Joint Commission International (JCI). Recertifications were given in the year 2018 and 2021. No other AMI program in the country has been certified by the JCI.With the Hub and Spoke program, TMC intends to expand this level of care to the surrounding community through education, coordination and facilitated transfer.

The new Hub and Spoke program addresses the challenges that heart attack patients face in the Philippines, such as lack of cardiac catheterization laboratories and expertise in smaller hospitals, insufficient transport services and delays in seeking medical care. By enrolling surrounding hospitals as partners, the program aims to provide a coordinated approach to patient care and increase the survival rate of heart attack patients to 95%.

However, the Hub and Spoke program’s focus is not only on treatment but also on prevention. The program emphasizes public health education, teaching the community about heart attack symptoms and the significance of timely interventions. By empowering the community with knowledge, the program hopes to reduce the number of heart attacks and save lives.

In essence, the Hub and Spoke program aims to make quality heart attack treatment accessible to all. By expanding the reach of TMC’s expertise, the program seeks to make a difference in the fight against heart disease in the Philippines. If you are concerned about your heart health, be confident that The Medical City Cardiovascular Institute is dedicated to providing you with the best possible care, anytime, anywhere.

Time is muscle during a heart attack emergency. Do not delay your care if you are experiencing any symptoms or suspect that you are having a heart attack.

The Medical City’s Emergency Room triage can be reached at 8988-1000 or 8988-7000 ext. 6174.