Article Photos

PARKERSBURG - Mountain State Blue Cross Blue Shield recently urged the West Virginia Health Care Authority to reject an application from Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital to perform emergency percutaneous coronary intervention, also called Primary PCI, or emergency angioplasty, for emergency patients.

Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital CEO Mike King said the letter from Mountain State Blue Cross Blue Shield to the West Virginia Health Care Authority shows a lack of understanding by the insurer of the hospital's application.

"We are not asking to be allowed to have elective angioplasty or open heart surgery," King said. "This is for emergencies."

King said the two cardiac interventionists in Parkersburg will be able to provide full-time coverage at Camden-Clark. King said the cardiologists do not belong to one hospital or another, but are community physicians with medical staff privileges at Camden-Clark and St. Joseph's.

King said it is irrelevant that one of the cardiologists, Dr. Stafford Warren, lives in Charleston. He said Warren lives in Parkersburg when he is on call.

The goal to bring the patients closer to the treatment needed would be served by allowing emergency angioplasty at Camden-Clark, King said. The transfer of an emergency patient to another hospital may exceed 60 minutes, he said.

David McClure, vice president of Operations and Professional Services, said time would be lost in getting the angioplasty team in place at the other hospital. King added the transfer causes a duplication of charges for transport and treatment and exposes the patients to additional risks.

Both hospitals agree there should be more than two cardiac interventionists and Camden-Clark is working with Parkersburg Cardiac Associates to recruit cardiac interventionists to the area, King said. The practice has written a letter stating its willingness to participate in Camden-Clark's project if it is approved, he said.

In the letter Dr. David A. Gnegy states Parkersburg Cardiology Associates "would actively participate in the development and operations of the program, the training of the staff and the implementation of appropriate policies, procedures and protocols."

Greg Smith, director of marketing at Camden-Clark, said the hospital is making a small investment to provide the service in an emergency setting.

"The cost of the total project is $65,000, that's it," he said. "We already have a cath lab; the cath lab was in the north tower area; it's not a big expansion in the field to provide our patients with a service."

King said compared to the $65 million spent on the new south tower, the investment in the emergency angioplasty is small.

The hospital wants to provide a service so people won't have to try to diagnose themselves, Smith said.

Smith and King said Camden-Clark is the largest hospital in the area and the busiest emergency department with 43,309 visits in 2007. King said they project 30 to 48 emergency angioplasty procedures a year, less than one a week.

In the past the state has rejected arguments that an open heart surgery backup is needed, King said.

"A five-year pilot project by the authority showed primary angioplasty can be performed safely and effectively without on-site surgical backup for open heart," he said.

King noted the state approved the application for two Charleston-area hospitals, St. Francis and Thomas Memorial, to perform emergency angioplasty despite the presence of Charleston Area Medical Center. Blue Cross Blue Shield did not intervene in Charleston when the authority was considering the applications from the other hospital nor did it intervene in applications for the Beckley area, he said.