Joplin, MO. – Freeman Health System has received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2025, one of only 323 hospitals and healthcare systems nationwide to receive the honor.

The award recognizes Freeman’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies that Freeman has reached an aggressive goal of treating these patients to standard levels of care as outlined by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association clinical guidelines and recommendations.

“Receiving the MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award is very significant for the Freeman Heart Institute,” said Paige Moschner, Director of Cardiac and Vascular Services at Freeman Heart & Vascular Institute. “Not only does it benchmark our performance with like institutions, it fosters collaboration among all TCD (time critical diagnosis) and emergency departments. This award truly marks Freeman as an Institute of Excellence for Cardiovascular care.”

To receive the Chest Pain – MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award, Freeman staff has demonstrated sustained achievement in the Chest Pain – MI Registry for two consecutive years (2023 and 2024), while also performing at the highest level for specific performance measures. Full participation in the registry engages hospitals in a robust quality improvement process using data to drive improvements in adherence to guideline recommendations and overall quality of care provided to heart attack patients.

“It is an honor to award Freeman Health System with the Platinum Performance Award for their valuable national leadership and dedication to meeting comprehensive performance measures in patient care,” said Michael C. Kontos, MD, FACC, chair of the NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Steering Subcommittee, and cardiologist at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. “The receipt of this award indicates that Freeman remains committed to providing top quality, guideline-driven care for heart attack patients. Their success ensures patients are receiving the highest quality cardiovascular care.”

The Centers for Disease Control estimates that over 800,000 Americans suffer a heart attack each year. A heart attack occurs when a blood clot in a coronary artery partially or completely blocks blood flow to the heart muscle. Treatment guidelines include administering aspirin upon arrival and discharge, timely restoration of blood flow to the blocked artery, smoking cessation counseling and cardiac rehabilitation, among others.

Chest Pain – MI Registry empowers health care provider teams to consistently treat heart attack patients according to the most current, science-based guidelines and establishes a national standard for understanding and improving the quality, safety and outcomes of care provided for patients with coronary artery disease, specifically high-risk heart attack patients.