Mercy Health – Lourdes Hospital has received the American Heart Association’s Bronze Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Quality Achievement Award as well as the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Silver Plus award with Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll. These are the highest achievements that Lourdes Hospital’s stroke program can earn. The program launched with protocols in place for outpatients in July 2020 and inpatients in September 2020. The honors follow the Joint Commission designating the hospital as a primary stroke center in February of this year for its comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients admitted to the emergency department.
Lourdes Hospital earned the American Heart Association honors for its commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines. It qualified for the Diabetes Honor Roll recognition by meeting quality measures with more than 90% compliance for 12 consecutive months.
Stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the U.S. On average, someone in the US suffers a stroke every 40 seconds, and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year. Early stroke detection and treatment are key to improving survival, minimizing disability and speeding recovery times. Diabetes is a risk factor for stroke.
Get With The Guidelines-Stroke was developed to assist healthcare professionals to provide the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines for treating stroke patients.
“Lourdes Hospital is honored to be recognized by the American Heart Association for our dedication to helping our patients have the best possible chance of survival after a stroke,” said Mercy Health – Kentucky President Michael Yungmann. “We started our stroke program to ensure we had the people and processes in place to give stroke patients top quality, evidence-based care. Get With The Guidelines-Stroke makes it easier for our teams to put proven knowledge and guidelines to work on a daily basis to improve outcomes for stroke patients.”
Each year program participants apply for the award recognition by demonstrating how their organization has committed to providing quality care for stroke patients. In addition to following treatment guidelines, participants also provide education to patients to help them manage their health and rehabilitation once at home.
“We are pleased to recognize Lourdes Hospital for its commitment to stroke care,” said Lee H. Schwamm, MD, 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.
