Saint Clare’s Health System Receives Get With The Guidelines Silver Plus Performance Achievement Award

Award demonstrates Saint Clare’s Health System’s commitment to quality care for stroke patients

DENVILLE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Saint Clare’s Health System has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Silver Plus Performance Achievement Award. The award recognizes Saint Clare’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of stroke care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment according to nationally accepted standards and recommendations.

To receive the Get With The Guidelines Stroke Silver Plus Performance Achievement Award, Saint Clare’s achieved at least 12 consecutive months of 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines Stroke Performance Achievement indicators and achieved at least 75 percent or higher compliance with six of 10 Get With The Guidelines Stroke Quality Measures during that same period of time, which are reporting initiatives to measure quality of care.

These measures include aggressive use of medications, such as tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) prophylaxis, cholesterol reducing drugs and smoking cessation, all aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients.

“With a stroke, time lost is brain lost, and the Get With The Guidelines Stroke Silver Plus Performance Achievement Award demonstrates that our staff is committed to providing care that has been shown in the scientific literature to quickly and efficiently treat stroke patients with evidence-based protocols,” said Leslie D. Hirsch, President and Chief Executive Officer of Saint Clare’s Health System.

The Stroke Centers at Saint Clare’s Hospitals in Denville and Dover provide advanced medical teams that quickly diagnose strokes and promptly begin treatment, increasing the chances of recovery. The Stroke Centers’ comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients includes a staff of specialized doctors, nurses and technologists ready to evaluate and treat strokes 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“Saint Clare’s Health System is to be commended for its commitment to implementing standards of care and protocols for treating stroke patients,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., chair of the Get With The Guidelines National Steering Committee and director of the TeleStroke and Acute Stroke Services at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “The full implementation of acute care and secondary prevention recommendations and guidelines is a critical step in saving the lives and improving outcomes of stroke patients.”

Get With The Guidelines Stroke uses the “teachable moment,” the time soon after a patient has had a stroke, when they are most likely to listen to and follow their healthcare professionals’ guidance. Studies demonstrate that patients who are taught how to manage their risk factors while still in the hospital reduce their risk of a second heart attack or stroke. Through Get With The Guidelines Stroke, customized patient education materials are made available at the point of discharge, based on patients’ individual risk profiles. The take-away materials are written in an easy-to-understand format and are available in English and Spanish. In addition, the Get With The Guidelines Patient Management Tool provides access to up-to-date cardiovascular and stroke science at the point of care.

“The time is right for Saint Clare’s to be focused on improving the quality of stroke care by implementing Get With The Guidelines Stroke. The number of acute ischemic stroke patients eligible for treatment is expected to grow over the next decade due to increasing stroke incidence and a large aging population,” continued Hirsch.

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States and a leading cause of serious, long-term disability.

About Saint Clare’s Health System

Saint Clare’s Health System, which has served the healthcare needs of northwestern New Jersey residents since 1895, is the region’s premier provider of community-based healthcare and behavioral health services. Saint Clare’s operates hospitals in Boonton Township, Denville, Dover and Sussex Borough and other facilities located throughout Morris and Sussex counties. For more information about Saint Clare’s Health System, please visit www.saintclares.org.



CONTACT:

Saint Clare’s Health System
Stephanie Galloway, 973-983-5311
[email protected]

KEYWORDS:   United States  North America  New Jersey

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS:   Practice Management  Health  Cardiology  Hospitals  General Health

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