Atrium Health Earns National Recognition for Efforts to Improve Stroke Treatment
CHARLOTTE, N.C., September 16, 2021 – Atrium Health has received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award at 10 facilities for their commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines.
Stroke is the number five cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the U.S. 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. Early stroke detection and treatment are key to improving survival, minimizing disability and speeding recovery times.
Get With The Guidelines-Stroke was developed to assist healthcare professionals to provide the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines for treating stroke patients.
“Atrium Health is honored to be recognized by the American Heart Association for our dedication to helping our patients have the best possible chance of survival and reduced disability after a stroke,” said Dr. Andrew Asimos, medical director of Carolinas Stroke Network at Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center. “Get With The Guidelines-Stroke makes it easier for our teams to put proven knowledge and guidelines to work on a daily basis to improve outcomes for stroke patients.”
Each year program participants apply for the award recognition by demonstrating how their organization has committed to providing quality care for stroke patients. In addition to following treatment guidelines, participants also provide education to patients to help them manage their health and rehabilitation once at home.
“We are pleased to recognize Atrium Health for their commitment to stroke care,” said Dr. Lee H. Schwamm, national chairperson of the Quality Oversight Committee and Executive Vice Chair of Neurology and Director of Acute Stroke Services at Massachusetts General Hospital. “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.”
Atrium Health also received the Association’s Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Elite award at Atrium Health Cabarrus, Cleveland, Lincoln, Pineville, Stanly and Union. Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center received the Association’s Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll 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, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke.
Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center and Atrium Health Cabarrus also received the Association’s Target: StrokeSM Advanced Therapy award. For this award, hospitals successfully treated at least 50% of qualified stroke patients within 90 minutes of arriving directly to their facility and within 60 minutes of arriving by EMS transport.
Additionally, Atrium Health received the Association’s Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll award at Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center, Cabarrus, Cleveland, Lincoln, Mercy, Pineville, Stanly, Union and University. 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.”