McLaren Northern Michigan has received 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 ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.
McLaren Northern Michigan 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 other care transition interventions.
“At McLaren Northern Michigan, we are dedicated to improving the quality of care for our stroke patients by implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines - Stroke initiative,” said Robert Levy, MD, Neurologist at McLaren Northern Michigan. “We have a dedicated and compassionate team of health care professionals who have a passion and focus on improving stroke care.”
Lastly, McLaren Northern Michigan received the Association’s Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite award. To qualify, McLaren Northern Michigan 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.
We also received the Association's Target Type 2 Honor Roll award, meeting quality measures developed with more than 90% patient compliance for 12 consecutive months for Overall Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score.
McLaren Northern Michigan has also met specific scientific guidelines as a Primary Stroke Center featuring a comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients admitted to the emergency department.
“We are pleased to recognize McLaren Northern Michigan 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.”
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.
