The following is a release from EvergreenHealth:
EvergreenHealth is pleased to announce it has earned the American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines – Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award with Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite for 2015. The award recognizes the Kirkland-based health system’s commitment to quality care for stroke patients, according to guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.
Get With The Guidelines-Stroke helps health systems provide the most up-to-date, research-based care for stroke patients with the goal of reducing recovery time, death and disability. EvergreenHealth earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures over a set period of time, which included the aggressive use of medications, risk-reduction therapies and measures to improve the lives of stroke patients and their families.
EvergreenHealth also received the association’s Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite for meeting stroke quality measures that reduce the time between hospital arrival and treatment with the clot-buster tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke. People who suffer a stroke who receive the drug within three hours of the onset of symptoms may recover quicker and it lessens the chance of suffering from severe disability.
“EvergreenHealth’s team approach to providing stroke care is one among many attributes that contribute to this important work aimed at improving the lives of patients and their families when it matters most,” said EvergreenHealth CEO Bob Malte. “From our community-based first-responder teams who provide life-saving rapid response treatment, to the doctors, nurses, and providers who offer the highest quality comprehensive stroke care according to these respected guidelines, it’s our honor to recognize each of their contributions to achieving the best possible outcomes for our patients.”
For providers, Get With The Guidelines-Stroke offers quality improvement measures, discharge protocols, standing orders and other measurement tools that can help save lives and ultimately reduce overall health care costs by lowering readmission rates for stroke patients.
“We are pleased to recognize EvergreenHealth for its commitment to stroke care,” said Deepak L. Bhatt, M.D., M.P.H., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines steering committee and executive director of Interventional Cardiovascular Programs at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “Studies have shown that hospitals that consistently follow Get With The Guidelines quality improvement measures can reduce length of stay and 30-day readmission rates and reduce disparities in care.”
EvergreenHealth’s commitment to quality care has also been recognized by its track record of Five-Star ratings by Healthgrades for the treatment of stroke for seven consecutive years, and it has been recognized as one of America’s 100 Best™ hospitals in stroke care, as well. Healthgrades also ranked the EvergreenHealth among the top 5 percent in the nation for neurosciences for 2016.
To learn more about the American Stroke Association, visit www.strokeassociation.org. For more information about EvergreenHealth, visit www.evergreenhealth.com or call its 24/7 Nurse Navigator & Healthline at 425-899-3000.
