Dixie Regional Medical Center has received the American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment and success in ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.
To receive the Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award, hospitals must achieve 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines Stroke Achievement Measures for two or more consecutive 12-month periods and achieve 75 percent or higher compliance with five of eight Get With The Guidelines Stroke Quality Measures. Dixie Regional has achieved these standards annually since 2009.
These quality measures are designed to help hospital teams provide the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. They focus on appropriate use of guideline-based care for stroke patients, including aggressive use of medications such as clot-busting and anti-clotting drugs, blood thinners and cholesterol-reducing drugs, preventive action for deep vein thrombosis, and smoking cessation counseling.
“A stroke patient loses 1.9 million brain cells each minute stroke treatment is delayed,” said Karilee Fuailetolo, Dixie Regional stroke program coordinator. “This recognition demonstrates our commitment to delivering advanced treatments to stroke patients quickly and safely.”
Dixie Regional has also met specific scientific guidelines to certify as a Joint Commission Primary Stroke Center, featuring a comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients admitted to the emergency department.
“The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association recognize Dixie Regional Medical Center for its commitment to stroke care,” said Dr. Paul Heidenreich, national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and professor of medicine at Stanford University. “Research has shown there are benefits to patients who are treated at hospitals that have adopted the Get With The Guidelines program.”
According to the 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, someone dies of a stroke every four minutes, and nearly 800,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.
Get With The Guidelines is the American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal of saving lives and hastening recovery, Get With The Guidelines has affected more than 5 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org/quality or heart.org/QualityMap.
