The Medical Center, Navicent Health has received its fifth consecutive “Get With the Guidelines – Stroke Gold Plus” Quality Achievement Award, an annual award presented by the American Heart Association / American Stroke Association for excellence in stroke care. In addition, MCNH has also been named to AHA’s Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Elite.
 
The “Get With the Guidelines – Stroke Gold Plus” Quality Achievement Award with Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Elite 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, 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 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.
 
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 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 strive for excellence as we treat stroke patients with evidence-based protocols,” said Dr. Christopher Hendry, 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 will remain 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.