Temple University Hospital – Jeanes Campus was recently recognized with the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.
The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to providing the most appropriate treatment to stroke patients according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines.
“Temple University Hospital – Jeanes Campus has consistently earned recognition for outstanding stroke care through the Get With the Guidelines-Stroke initiative,” said Marc P. Hurowitz, DO, MBA, FAAFP, Executive Director, Temple University Hospital – Jeanes Campus. “Such an honor validates the excellence in care that patients can expect when they come to our hospital, while offering further evidence of the hard work and dedication of our physicians and staff. We are so proud to accept this award and pledge to continue our commitment to upholding the evidence-based clinical guidelines developed through this program to improve patient outcomes.”
Jeanes also met specific scientific guidelines as a primary stroke center by providing the highest level of care, from urgent diagnosis and treatment to early prevention. Emergency stroke cases are evaluated 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the TUH-Jeanes Emergency Department.
“Every month with Get With The Guidelines we enter our statistics. We have to qualify in 10 different achievements to be recognized,” said Donna Zielinski, stroke program coordinator at Jeanes. “I am beyond honored that Jeanes has received this recognition.”
These guidelines are measured for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. The 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, an appointment for a follow-up visit, and other care transition interventions.
According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the fifth leading cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone in the United States suffers a stroke every 40 seconds, and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.
Jeanes also received the Association’s Target: Type 2 Honor Roll award for the first time. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed with more than 90% of compliance for 12 consecutive months for the Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score.
“A lot of our patients are high risk and a lot of our patients who have strokes—90% of them—have diabetes as a comorbidity,” said Zielinski. “So having to enter all this information and having Get With The Guidelines not only for stroke but diabetes gives us more of an incentive to realize how strong of a coincidence there is in patients who have a stroke and diabetes. There’s definitely a high connection for stroke patients not just to high blood pressure but to diabetes.”