LITTLE ROCK, Ark. ― Baptist Health Medical Center-Little Rock and Baptist Health Medical Center-Conway recently received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus and Silver Quality Achievement Award, respectively. These awards recognize the hospitals’ commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized research-based guidelines.
Baptist Health Medical Center-Little Rock earned the award 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 receive other care transition interventions.
In addition, Baptist Health Medical Center-Little Rock received the association’s Target: StrokeSM Elite Plus award. To qualify for this recognition, 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 (tPA), the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke.
“We’re pleased to recognize Baptist Health Medical Center-Little Rock and Baptist Health Medical Center-Conway for their commitment to stroke care,” said Eric E. Smith, M.D., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and an associate professor of neurology at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. “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.
About Baptist Health: Baptist Health is an Arkansas-based, locally owned and managed, not-for-profit, and faith-based healthcare organization. Baptist Health is also Arkansas’ most comprehensive healthcare organization with more than 9,300 employees operating nine hospitals. For more information about Baptist Health or Baptist Health physicians, call Baptist Health HealthLine at 1-888-BAPTIST or visit the website at baptist-health.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube.
About Get With The Guidelines®
Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with tools and resources to increase adherence to the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal of saving lives and hastening recovery, Get With The Guidelines has touched the lives of more than 6 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.