Lourdes Receives Stroke Award
Thursday, April 29, 2010
This award demonstrates Lourdes
Hospital's commitment to
quality care for stroke patients.
Lourdes Hospital has received the American
Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get With The
Guidelines® Stroke Silver Plus Performance Achievement Award. The
award recognizes Lourdes' commitment and success in implementing a
higher standard of stroke care by ensuring that stroke patients
receive treatment according to nationally accepted standards and
recommendations.
To receive the Get With The Guidelines Stroke Silver Plus
Performance Achievement Award, Lourdes Hospital achieved at least
12 consecutive months of 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get
With The Guidelines Stroke Performance Achievement indicators and
achieved at least 75 percent or higher compliance with six of 10
Get With The Guidelines Stroke Quality Measures during that same
period of time, which are reporting initiatives to measure quality
of care.
These measures include aggressive use of medications, such as
tPA, antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, DVT prophylaxis,
cholesterol reducing drugs and smoking cessation, all aimed at
reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke
patients.
"With a stroke, time lost is brain lost, and the Get With The
Guidelines Stroke Silver Plus Performance Achievement Award
demonstrates that our staff is committed to providing care that has
been shown in the scientific literature to quickly and efficiently
treat stroke patients with evidence-based protocols," said Dr.
Robert Taylor, Vice President of Medical Affairs.
Get With The Guidelines - Stroke uses the "teachable moment,"
the time soon after a patient has had a stroke, when they are most
likely to listen to and follow their healthcare professionals'
guidance. Studies demonstrate that patients who are taught how to
manage their risk factors while still in the hospital reduce their
risk of a second heart attack or stroke. Through Get With The
Guidelines - Stroke, customized patient education materials are
made available at the point of discharge, based on patients'
individual risk profiles.
According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke
Association, stroke is the third leading cause of death in the
United States and a leading cause of serious, long-term disability.
On average, someone suffers a stroke every 45 seconds; someone dies
of a stroke every three minutes; and 795,000 people suffer a new or
recurrent stroke each year.
For more information on Get With The Guidelines, visit www.americanheart.org/getwiththeguidelines.
