Stroke Gold award being presented by the American Heart Association to members of the Henry Ford Hospital’s Stroke and Neurovascular Disease Center (L to R, Jason Thompson, RN, Daniel Miller, MD, and Michael Lange, RN).
Henry Ford Health System announces in a recent news release that Henry Ford Hospital’s Stroke and Neurovascular Disease Center has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Quality Achievement Award.
Per the release, Henry Ford Hospital received the award in recognition of its commitment and success in ensuring that stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke achievement indicators.
These include: aggressive use of medications such as clot-busting and anti-clotting drugs, blood thinners and cholesterol-reducing drugs, preventive action for deep vein thrombosis, and smoking cessation counseling, the release explains.
Their aim is to speed recovery, and reduce death and disability, from stroke, according to the release.
To receive the award, hospitals must achieve 85% or higher adherence to all of the achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month periods.
“With a stroke, time lost is brain lost, and this award demonstrates our commitment to ensuring patients receive care based on nationally respected clinical guidelines,” says Christopher A. Lewandowski, MD, with the Department of Emergency Medicine at Henry Ford, in the release.
“We are pleased to recognize Henry Ford Hospital for their commitment to stroke care,” said Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, MPH, national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines steering committee, executive director of Interventional Cardiovascular Programs at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, in the release.
“Studies have shown that hospitals that consistently follow Get With The Guidelines quality improvement measures can reduce length of stay and 30-day readmission rates and reduce disparities in care,” Bhatt continues in the release.
Get With The Guidelines-Stroke offers quality-improvement measures, discharge protocols, standing orders, and other measurement tools for care providers, the release states.
For patients, Get With The Guidelines-Stroke uses the “teachable moment,” the time soon after a patient has had a stroke, when they learn how to manage their risk factors while still in the hospital and recognize the F.A.S.T. warning signs of a stroke, per the release.
[Photo Credit: Henry Ford Health System]
[Source: Henry Ford Health System]
