Stamford Hospital has received the Get With The Guidelines®–Stroke Gold Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association (AHA)/American Stroke Association (ASA). This distinction recognizes the Hospital’s commitment and success in ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines established based on the latest scientific evidence.
“Our goal is to evaluate acute stroke patients quickly but thoroughly. We aim to provide rapid diagnosis and therapy to minimize the likelihood of loss of brain function,” said Louise Resor, MD, Director of Neurology and Medical Director of the Stroke Program at Stamford Hospital. The award is a testament to the dedication of the stroke team to ensuring comprehensive diagnostic assessment on admission and up-to-date care of our stroke patients during their hospital stay.”
To earn the Gold Quality Achievement Award, Stamford Hospital achieved 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines-Stroke achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month periods. These quality measures are designed to help hospital teams provide the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. They focus on the appropriate use of guideline-based care for stroke patients, including aggressive use of medications such as clot-busting and anti-clotting drugs, blood thinners and cholesterol-reducing drugs, preventive action for deep vein thrombosis and smoking cessation counseling.
According to the AHA/ASA, stroke is the fifth cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds and dies of a stroke every four minutes. More than 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year. When it comes to dealing with a stroke, the saying is “Time is Brain.” The Get With The Guidelines-Stroke program offers quality-improvement measures, discharge protocols, standing orders and other helpful measurement tools that not only help hospitals easily implement procedures but, ultimately, will help lower overall healthcare costs through reduced readmissions of stroke patients.
Stamford Hospital’s Stroke Center offers clinical expertise and the technology needed provides quick diagnosis and treatment of patients with stroke to minimize the likelihood of brain function loss. A team of skilled physicians and nurses use advanced tools including an acute CT scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound of the carotid artery and CT angiography to determine a patient’s specific type of stroke. The inpatient rehabilitation program helps patients regain independent movement to perform daily activities. Patients can continue working with physicians as part of the Outpatient Rehabilitation Program and receive ongoing physical and occupational therapy to ensure they return to their quality of life as soon as possible.