Hendrick Medical Center receives national recognition for stroke care

Hendrick Medical Center has once again received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines ^®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. The award recognizes Hendrick’s commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.

“We are proud to receive the American Heart Association’s Gold Seal Award for excellence in Stroke Care,” said Kristen Grand, stroke coordinator at Hendrick Medical Center. “Hendrick is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our stroke patients by implementing national best practice guidelines proven to optimize patient outcomes. The tools and resources provided help us track and measure our success in meeting evidenced-based clinical guidelines developed to improve patient outcomes.”

Hendrick Medical Center 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.

Additionally, Hendrick Medical Center received the association’s Target: Stroke ^SM Honor Roll award. To qualify for this recognition, Hendrick met quality measures developed to reduce the time between the 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.

“We are pleased to recognize Hendrick Medical Center for their commitment to stroke care,” said Dr. Eric E. Smith, national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and an associate professor of neurology at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. “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 No. 5 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 approximately 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.