The Medical Center, Navicent Health Receives Seventh Consecutive Award for Stroke Care
The Medical Center, Navicent Health (MCNH) has received its seventh consecutive "Get With the Guidelines - Stroke Gold Plus" Quality Achievement Award, an annual award presented by the American Heart Association / American Stroke Association (AHA) for excellence in stroke care. In addition, MCNH has also been named to AHA's Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Elite Plus.
The "Get With the Guidelines - Stroke Gold Plus" Quality Achievement Award with Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Elite Plus recognizes MCNH's commitment to quality care for stroke patients, and success in implementing an exemplary standard of care for stroke patients, according to nationally recognized research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.
In order to receive the award, MCNH achieved an 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality Achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month periods and achieved 75 percent or higher compliance with five of eight Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality Measures, which are reporting initiatives to measure quality of care.
To qualify for the Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus, MCNH met quality measures developed to reduce the time between a patient's arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke. If given intravenously within the first three hours after the start of stroke symptoms, tPA has been shown to significantly reduce the effects of stroke and lessen the chance of permanent disability. MCNH earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period, specifically, by administering thrombolytic therapy within 60 minutes in 75 percent or more of acute ischemic stroke patients with door to needle times of 45 minutes for at least 50 percent of applicable patients. In addition to the national recognitions received from AHA, MCNH also recently received an Award of Excellence from the Georgia Coverdell Registry for door-to-needle time and tPA administration.
"The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association recognize The Medical Center, Navicent Health in its commitment to stroke care. Research has shown there are benefits to patients who are treated at hospitals that have adopted the Get With The Guidelines program," said Paul Heidenreich, M.D., M.S., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and Professor of Medicine at Stanford University.
These quality measures are designed to help hospital teams follow the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients.
"A stroke patient loses 1.9 million neurons each minute that stroke treatment is delayed. This award demonstrates The Medical Center, Navicent Health's continued commitment to deliver advanced stroke care to patients quickly and safely. We are so very proud of our stroke team and their diligence to provide timely, proven care for our patients. We will continue to raise the standard of excellence as we treat stroke patients with evidence-based protocols," said Christopher Hendry, M.D., Chief Medical Officer for MCNH.
According to AHA, stroke is the fifth leading causes of death and the leading cause of serious, long-term disability in the United States. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds, someone dies of a stroke every four minutes, and nearly 800,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.
"The number of acute ischemic stroke patients eligible for treatment is expected to grow over the next decade due to increasing stroke incidence and an aging population. The Medical Center, Navicent Health remains focused on improving the quality of stroke care by implementing evidence-based guidelines, including Get With The Guidelines-Stroke," said Denise Goings, RN, MSN, SCRN, Stroke Coordinator for MCNH.
About Atrium Health Navicent
Atrium Health Navicent was incorporated on November 17, 1994, as a nonprofit corporation whose primary purpose is to coordinate the Medical Center, Navicent Health and other affiliated entities in their mission of providing a comprehensive continuum of high quality, reasonably priced healthcare services to the region. Atrium Health Navicent has 830 beds for medical, surgical, rehabilitation and hospice purposes. The health system includes The Medical Center, Navicent Health, a nationally recognized tertiary teaching hospital; Atrium Health Navicent Beverly Knight Olson Children's Hospital, the region's only dedicated pediatric hospital; Medical Center of Peach County, Atrium Health Navicent, a rural critical access hospital; Rehabilitation Hospital, Atrium Health Navicent, the region's oldest and most experienced rehabilitation provider; Pine Pointe, Atrium Health Navicent, which provides palliative and hospice care in homes and in its facility; Carlyle Place, Atrium Health Navicent, the area's first continuing care retirement community; Navicent Health Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Atrium Health Navicent; as well as diagnostic and home care services. For more information, please visit www.navicenthealth.org.
About Get With The Guidelines®
Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with tools and resources to increase adherence to the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal of saving lives and hastening recovery, Get With The Guidelines has touched the lives of more than 6 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.