The Medical Center at Bowling Green receives Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award
American Heart Association Award recognizes The Medical Center at Bowling Green’s commitment to quality stroke care.
For the second consecutive year, The Medical Center at Bowling Green has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to ensuring acute stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment and care according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.
The Medical Center at Bowling Green is certified as a Primary Stroke Center by The Joint Commission, and earned the Gold Plus award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of acute stroke patients. These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and other stroke treatments with the goal of speeding recovery, reducing death and disability, and preventing future strokes. Before discharge, patients also receive specific education on managing their health, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions.
The Medical Center at Bowling Green also received the Association’s Target: StrokeSM Elite Honor Roll Award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet clinical practice guideline-based quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat acute ischemic stroke.
“Achieving these Stroke awards is a wonderful way to publicly recognize the dedication and commitment to excellence of our incredible multi-disciplinary Stroke Team of healthcare professionals right here at The Medical Center at Bowling Green, Medical Center EMS, and our great partners at the AHA/ASA, the UK HealthCare/Norton Healthcare Stroke Care Network, Genentech and the Air Evac Lifeteam,” said Bill Singletary, The Medical Center at Bowling Green Director of Specialty Certifications & Clinical Documentation Improvement. “The tools and resources the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association provide help us track and measure our success in meeting evidenced-based clinical guidelines developed to standardize care and ultimately improve patient outcomes.”
“We are very pleased to recognize The Medical Center at Bowling Green for their commitment to stroke care,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., national chairperson of the Quality Oversight Committee and Executive Vice Chair of Neurology, Director of Acute Stroke Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. “Research has shown that hospitals adhering to clinical measures through the Get With The Guidelines quality improvement initiative can often see fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates.”
According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.
