Beacon hospitals receive achievement awards for stroke care
American Heart Association awards recognize Elkhart General Hospital’s and Memorial Hospital of South Bend’s commitment to quality stroke care
Beacon Health System is pleased to announce that both Elkhart General Hospital and Memorial Hospital of South Bend have received recognition for their commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.
- Elkhart General Hospital – Get With the Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus with Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite
- Memorial Hospital – Get With the Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus with Target: Stroke Honor Roll
The two Beacon hospitals earned the awards 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.
“Beacon is dedicated to helping our patients achieve the best possible outcomes, and implementing the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s® Get With The Guidelines® program helps us accomplish that by making it easier for our teams to put proven knowledge and guidelines to work on a daily basis,” said José Luis López, MD, Medical Director of the Beacon Health System Neurohospitalist and Stroke Programs. “We are honored to positively impact our community through our commitment to quality care.”
Elkhart General Hospital additionally received the association’s Target StrokeSM Elite award and Memorial Hospital received the Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll award. To qualify for these recognitions, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke.
“We are pleased to recognize Elkhart General Hospital and Memorial Hospital for their 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.”
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 nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.
