Good Samaritan 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 stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according
to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines from the latest scientific evidence.
Good Samaritan 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. These measures include evaluation of the proper
use of medications and other stroke treatments aligned with the most up-to-date,
evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing
death and disability for stroke patients. Before discharge, patients should
also receive education on managing their health, get a follow-up visit
scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions.
“We are dedicated to improving the quality of care for our stroke
patients by implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With
The Guidelines-Stroke initiative,” said Rachel Spalding, Chief Nursing
Officer. “The tools and resources provided help us track and measure
our success in meeting evidenced-based clinical guidelines developed to
improve patient outcomes.”
Good Samaritan additionally received the Association’s Target: Type
2 Honor Roll award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet
quality measures developed with more than 90% of compliance for 12 consecutive
months for the “Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite
Score.”
“We are pleased to recognize Good Samaritan 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 fifth 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.
“I’m very proud of what we have accomplished, and receiving
this award recognizes the hard work Stroke Services has done thus far,”
said Erika Watts, BSN, RN, Stroke Program Coordinator. “I would
like to recognize my fellow teammates: Margie Catt, RHIT and Amanda Rothenberger
RN, for their hard work and compassion to make sure we are meeting quality
standards for our stroke patients. Submitting data 24 months consecutively
is not any easy feat and Margie has been there since the beginning. We
are honored and humbled to accept this achievement. This award will only
motivate us to keep moving forward to give our stroke patients the best
care possible.”