NUMC RECEIVES “”GET WITH THE GUIDELINES STROKE GOLD PLUS”” QUALITY ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FROM THE AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION/AMERICAN STROKE ASSOCIATION
Victor F. Politi, MD, FACP, FACEP
President/CEO
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 9, 2014
PRESS CONTACT:
Shelley Lotenberg
shelley@numc.edu
516-572-6055
NUMC RECEIVES “GET WITH THE GUIDELINES STROKE GOLD PLUS” QUALITY ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FROM THE AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION/AMERICAN STROKE ASSOCIATION
EAST MEADOW, APRIL 8, 2014, 2014 – Victor F. Politi, MD, FACP, FACEP, President /CEO of the NuHealth System announces that the Nassau University Medical Center has received the Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold-Plus Quality Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for the treatment of stroke patients.
Get with the Guidelines Stroke helps hospital teams provide the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. Nassau University Medical Center earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include aggressive use of medications and risk-reduction therapies aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients.
“Nassau University Medical Center is dedicated to improving the quality of stroke care and The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get with the Guidelines-Stroke helps us achieve that goal,” said Dr. Politi. “With this award, our hospital demonstrates our commitment to ensure that our patients receive care based on internationally-respected clinical guidelines.”
Get With The Guidelines-Stroke also helps Nassau University Medical Center’s staff implement prevention measures, which include educating stroke patients to manage their risk factors and to be aware of warning signs for stroke, and ensuring they take their medications properly. Hospitals can make customized patient education materials available upon discharge, based on the patients’ individual risk profiles. The take-away materials are written in an easy-to-understand format in either English or Spanish.
“We are pleased to recognize Nassau University Medical Center for their commitment and dedication to stroke care,” said Deepak L. Bhatt, M.D., M.P.H., national chairman of the Get with the Guidelines steering committee and Executive Director of Interventional Cardiovascular Programs at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. “Studies have shown that hospitals that consistently follow Get with the Guidelines quality improvement measures can reduce patients’ length of stays and 30-day readmission rates and reduce disparity gaps in care.”
According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the number four cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds; someone dies of a stroke every four minutes; and 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.
About Get With The Guidelines
Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with 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 4 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org/quality or heart.org/myhealthcare.
ABOUT NUHEALTH
NuHealth is a Long Island health care organization delivering essential medical care and disease and lifestyle management to everyone at every stage of life. Also known as Nassau Health Care Corporation, NuHealth is a public benefit corporation managing the operations of Nassau Medical Center, A. Holly Patterson Extended Care and a network of Family Health Centers that bring primary and specialty care out into the community. By emphasizing wellness, cultural sensitivity and collaborative efforts with the North Shore-LIJ Health System, NuHealth is working to make good care more affordable and easier to access.
For more information about NuHealth or its Centers of Care, visit www.nuhealth.net.