Courtesy: Mountain Vista Medical Ctr.
Mountain Vista Medical Center has been recognized for their commitment to quality care for stroke patients.
The Mesa based facility received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines – Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.
“With a stroke, time lost is brain lost, and the Get With The Guidelines–Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award demonstrates Mountain Vista Medical Center’s commitment to being one of the top hospitals in the country for providing aggressive, proven stroke care,” said Ryan Herold, interim director of Emergency Services, Mountain Vista Medical Center in a press release.”
It took a lot of hard work over the course of two or more years for the hospital to receive this prestigious award.
Mountain Vista Medical Center achieved 85 percent or higher adherence to all the Get With The Guidelines indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month intervals.
“Mountain Vista Medical Center is to be commended for its commitment to implementing standards of care and protocols for treating stroke patients,” said Ron Loomis, regional director of the American Heart and Stroke Association, Quality Improvement Initiatives in a press release.
The facility also achieved 75 percent or higher compliance with six of 10 Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality Measures. These are indicators to measure quality of care
Measures that include aggressive use of medications, such as antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, deep vein thrombosis prophylaxis, cholesterol reducing drugs and smoking cessation, all aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients.
“The full implementation of acute care and secondary prevention recommendations and guidelines is a critical step in saving the lives and improving outcomes of stroke patients,” said Loomis.
Get With The Guidelines–Stroke uses the “teachable moment,” the time soon after a patient has had a stroke, when they are most likely to listen to and follow their healthcare professionals’ guidance.
“The time is right for Mountain Vista Medical Center to be focused on improving the quality of stroke care by implementing Get With The Guidelines–Stroke. The number of acute ischemic stroke patients eligible for treatment is expected to grow over the next decade due to increasing stroke incidence and a large aging population,” said Herold.
Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and serious, long-term disability in the U.S., according to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.
On average, someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds and someone dies of a stroke every four minutes.
