Four Methodist Healthcare hospitals are recipients of the 2021 Get With The Guidelines™- Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association. Methodist Hospital, Methodist Hospital Metropolitan, Methodist Hospital Northeast and Methodist Hospital Stone Oak achieved the Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Award, which recognizes our hospital's commitment to ensuring that stroke patients receive the highest quality of care according to nationally recognized, research-driven guidelines, based on the latest scientific evidence.
To achieve the award, the hospitals met specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. The criteria include the proper use of medications and other stroke alignments that represent the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines aimed at speeding recovery and reducing the likelihood of death and disability for stroke patients. Prior to discharge, these hospitals have provided patients education on how to manage their health, get a follow-up visit scheduled as well as other care-transition interventions.
“Nearly 795,000 Americans suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year, which means someone is suffering from a stroke every 40 seconds,” said Dr. Paul Hancock, Chief Medical Officer of Methodist Healthcare. “I am incredibly proud of our teams for working together to improve stroke outcomes for our patients. We take great pride in earning this recognition because it exemplifies our efforts in providing the quality, timely and efficient care our community deserves.”
In addition to the Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award, the four hospitals received the Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll award, which recognizes their commitment to meeting quality measures developed with more than 90 percent compliance for 12 consecutive months for the “Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score. American Heart Association introduced the award to bring attention to this high-risk population.
The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association introduced the Get With The Guidelines program in 2001 to provide hospitals with the tools and resources to increase adherence to the latest research-based guidelines, and thus, save lives. The quality measures key in on appropriate use of guideline-based care for stroke patients, including aggressive use of clot-busting and anti-clotting drugs, blood thinners and cholesterol-reducing drugs, preventive action for deep vein thrombosis and smoke cessation counseling.
Learn more about stroke care at Methodist Healthcare.