UM Prince George's Hospital Center Receives American Heart Association Highest Honor
University of Maryland Prince George's Hospital Center (UM PGHC) has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines® Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. The highest honor that a hospital can receive 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.
This advanced level of recognition was earned by demonstrating high compliance with specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients. These measures include evaluation and success 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 tailored education on managing and protecting their health after stroke, scheduling follow-up visits, as well as other care transition interventions.
"We are honored to receive this award, which reflects our dedication to improving the quality of care for our stroke patients by implementing the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines-Stroke initiative," says Joseph L. Wright, MD, MPH, FAAP, Interim President & CEO, UM Capital Region Health. "The tools and resources provided help us track and measure our success in meeting evidenced-based clinical guidelines developed to improve patient outcomes."
Additionally, UM PGHC 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 alteplase, or tPA, which is considered the gold standard treatment for ischemic stroke. It is the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat acute ischemic stroke.
"We are pleased to recognize UM Prince George's Hospital Center for their commitment to stroke care," said Lee H. Schwamm, MD, 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.
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About University of Maryland Capital Region Health
Providing primary and specialty health care services to Prince George’s County and the neighboring area, University of Maryland Capital Region Health was established in September 2017 upon formal affiliation with the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), and is committed to making a positive impact on the health and well-being of patients and families. University of Maryland Capital Region Health operates the University of Maryland Prince George's Hospital Center in Cheverly, University of Maryland Laurel Medical Center, University of Maryland Bowie Health Campus, and the University of Maryland Family Health & Wellness Center in Suitland. Together, community physicians and University of Maryland School of Medicine (SOM) faculty provide clinical expertise across a range of specialties and programs including: acute rehabilitation; anesthesiology; critical and chronic ventilation care; emergency medicine; neonatology (including the County's highest level neonatal intensive care unit); orthopedics; vascular surgery; a certified and designated primary stroke center; and the State's second-busiest trauma center. University of Maryland School of Medicine faculty also lead the highly-regarded cardiac surgery program at UM Prince George's Hospital Center. A new state-of-the-art regional medical center is expected to open in Largo in 2021. For more information, visit www.umcapitalregion.org.
About Get With 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.