Lakewood Ranch Medical Center receives Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award

Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Lakewood Ranch Medical Center staff with award

American Heart Association Award recognizes Lakewood Ranch Medical Center’s commitment to quality stroke care

Lakewood Ranch Medical Center 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.

Lakewood Ranch Medical Center 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 also receive education on managing their health,  get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions.

“Our hospital is very proud to receive the Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award for the excellent acute treatment we provide to stroke patients. This was the first year our Stroke program could be considered for the Gold Plus Award based on number of years, so to achieve this level of recognition this year is remarkable and a true reflection of the outstanding work our team is doing,” said Andy Guz, CEO, Lakewood Ranch Medical Center. “The American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke initiative provides tools and resources that help us track and measure our success in meeting and exceeding evidenced-based clinical guidelines developed to improve patient outcomes.”

Lakewood Ranch Medical Center additionally received the association’s Target: StrokeSM Elite Honor Roll 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.

“We are pleased to recognize Lakewood Ranch Medical Center for their commitment to stroke care,” said Eric E. Smith, M.D., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and an associate professor of neurology at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. “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 number five 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.

Learn more about stroke care at Lakewood Ranch >