Saint Clare’s Health System, Denville, NJ, has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®Stroke Silver Plus Performance Achievement Award.

The award recognizes that Saint Clare’s achievment of receiving 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 tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) prophylaxis, cholesterol reducing drugs and smoking cessation, all aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients.

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. The take-away materials are written in an easy-to-understand format and are available in English and Spanish. In addition, the Get With The Guidelines Patient Management Tool provides access to up-to-date cardiovascular and stroke science at the point of care.

“The time is right for Saint Clare’s to be focused on improving the quality of stroke care by implementing Get With The Guidelines Stroke. The number of acute ischemic stroke patients eligible for treatment is expected to grow over the next decade due to increasing stroke incidence and a large aging population,” continued Hirsch.

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.

 

(Source: [removed]Press Release[/removed])