High recognition was given recently to several Emory Healthcare hospitals by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA) for excellence in the treatment and care of stroke patients.
Emory University Hospital, Emory University Hospital Midtown, Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital, Emory Johns Creek Hospital, and Southern Regional Medical Center were honored with the “Get with the Guidelines-Stroke” Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award, according to a media release from Emory University, Atlanta.
The release notes that hospitals that receive this award have reached a goal of treating stroke patients with 85% or higher adherence to all “Get with the Guidelines-Stroke” achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month periods. Furthermore, the facilities must have achieved 75% or higher compliance with five of eight of the program’s quality measures.
Emory University Hospital (EUH) was also reportedly recognized in the “Target: Stroke Honor Roll-Elite Plus” category for meeting quality measures to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster drug, tPA.
Over a 12-month period, at least 75% of EUH’s ischemic stroke patients received tPA within 60 minutes of arriving (known as door-to-needle time), and at least 50% of patients received tPA within 45 minutes of arrival, both of which earned the hospital the “Elite Plus” status.
“In fact, 97% of our IV tPA patients were treated within 60 minutes of arrival at Emory University Hospital,” says Fadi Nahab, MD, medical director of the stroke program at Emory University Hospital and Emory University Hospital Midtown, and associate professor in the departments of neurology and pediatrics. “Just 73 of 2,482 hospitals nationally, which is less than 3%, received the Target: Stroke Honor Roll-Elite Plus award.”
Southern Regional Medical Center was recognized in the “Target: Stroke Honor Roll-Elite” category, also a new recognition level this year. Experts at Southern Regional report that actually, 95.2% of acute ischemic stroke patients were treated with IV tPA in under 60 minutes from arrival, and the median door-to-needle time was 50 minutes.
Both Emory University Hospital Midtown and Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital reportedly were recognized on the “Target: Stroke Honor Roll,” meaning 50% of ischemic stroke patients at these hospitals received tPA within 60 minutes of arriving.
[Source: Emory University]
