Source: The News-Enterprise
Hardin Memorial Health recently received one of the highest recognitions it can for stroke care.
HMH was awarded the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus achievement award.
According to the American Heart Association website, Get With The Guidelines Stroke “is an in-hospital program for improving stroke care by promoting consistent adherence to the latest scientific treatment guidelines. Numerous published studies demonstrate the program’s success in achieving measurable patient outcome improvements.”
There are three levels of recognition, determined by the length of demonstrated performance:
• Bronze: recognizes performance of 90 consecutive days.
• Silver recognizes performance of 12 consecutive months.
• Gold recognizes performance of 24 consecutive months or more.
Silver Plus and Gold Plus achievement awards are advanced levels of recognition acknowledging hospitals for consistent compliance with quality measures embedded within the Patient Management Tool, according to the American Heart Association website.
Stroke Program Coordinator Rosa Vittitoe, MS N, SCRN, called the Gold Plus award “an advanced award that shows we are performing above the standard level and meeting those goals consistently for 24 months, which is huge in the world of any disease process.”
“Our leaders … are so invested in making sure we meet the needs of the community when it comes to stroke care, that is what this award really shows to me. We are invested in taking care of this community,” she said.
HMH President and CEO Dennis Johnson, during a stroke committee meeting Wednesday, called the recognition a “big deal.”
“It is a big deal not because we are trying to earn a plaque on the wall and not because we are trying to look good on a website … It’s a big deal because if it is us on the table, or one of our family members on the table, we want to make sure we’re getting the evidenced-based medicine and that we’re getting the very best care that medicine provides,” he said, noting the important thing is they are providing the “very best care” to the residents of the 10 counties the health system serves.
HMH also was recognized with the Target: Stroke Honor Roll-Elite. Vittitoe said their next goal is to reach Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus.
