Houston Healthcare – Warner Robins and Houston Healthcare – Perry Earn American Heart Association Awards for Efforts to Improve Stroke Treatment
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The American Heart Association (AHA) awarded both Houston Healthcare – Warner Robins and Houston Healthcare – Perry, respectively, for their commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines.
Houston Healthcare – Warner Robins
AHA’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke GOLDPLUS Level Quality Achievement Award
with Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite and Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll
Houston Healthcare – Perry
AHA’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke SILVERPLUS Quality Achievement Award
with Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll
Stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the U.S. 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. Early stroke detection and treatment are key to improving survival, minimizing disability and speeding recovery times.
Get With The Guidelines-Stroke was developed to assist healthcare professionals to provide the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines for treating stroke patients.
“Houston Healthcare as a whole, with Houston Healthcare – Warner Robins and Houston Healthcare – Perry, are honored to be recognized by the American Heart Association for our dedication to helping patients have the best possible chance of survival after a stroke,” said Kevin Rowley, Public Information Officer for Houston Healthcare. “Get With The Guidelines-Stroke makes it easier for our teams to put proven knowledge and guidelines to work on a daily basis to improve outcomes for stroke patients.”
Each year program participants apply for the award recognition by demonstrating how their organization has committed to providing quality care for stroke patients. In addition to following treatment guidelines, Houston Healthcare – Warner Robins also provides education to patients to help them manage their health and rehabilitation once at home.
“We are pleased to recognize Houston Healthcare – Warner Robins and Houston Healthcare – Perry for their commitment to stroke care,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., 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.”
For Houston Healthcare – Warner Robins to qualify for the Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll/Target: StrokeSM Elite Therapy awards, 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.
For Houston Healthcare – Warner Robins and Houston Healthcare – Perry to qualify for Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll award, hospitals must meet quality measures developed with more than 90% of compliance for 12 consecutive months for the “Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite
