ThedaCare Regional Medical Center-Neenah has achieved the American Heart Association’s Gold Plus Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke and Target: Stroke with Advanced Therapy Honor Roll Quality Achievement Awards. The awards recognize 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.
“With stroke care, it is important to have the best teams and resources, and the ability to act organizationally with extreme efficiency because of the time-critical nature of these events,” explained Mark Cockley, MD, ThedaCare’s Chief Clinical Officer and President of the Clinically Integrated Network. “Our teams are dedicated to improving the quality of care for our stroke patients by implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke initiative. The tools and resources help our teams understand each person’s unique medical background and provide appropriate levels of treatment. Our goal is to ensure people are able to get back to living their best life, sooner.”
ThedaCare is certified as a Comprehensive Stroke Center, the certification designed for those hospitals that have specific abilities to receive and treat the most complex stroke cases.
The certification affirms that ThedaCare addresses the full spectrum of stroke care – diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and education – and establishes clear metrics to evaluate outcomes. Comprehensive stroke centers are typically the best-equipped hospitals in a given geographical area that can treat any kind of stroke or stroke complication. In a growing number of states, stroke center certification determines to which facility a patient should be taken for the most appropriate, reimbursable care.
Each year program participants apply for the Association’s award recognition by demonstrating how their organization has committed to providing quality care for stroke patients. ThedaCare 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, reducing death and disability, and establishing a treatment plan to help stroke patients maximize their recovery and prevent future chances for similar events. Before discharge, patients also receive education on managing their health.
In addition to the Gold Plus Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Award, TheadaCare also received the Association’s Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Advanced Therapy award. For this award, hospitals successfully treated at least 50% of qualified stroke patients within 90 minutes of arriving directly to their facility and within 60 minutes of arriving by EMS transport.
“Again, time is of the essence in treating a stroke,” said Dr. Cockley. “The longer someone waits to receive medical attention, treatment options decrease and disability conditions increase. Delaying emergency care is not an option, and all members of the community should know they can turn to our team for safe emergency stroke care.”
“We are pleased to recognize ThedaCare for their commitment to stroke care,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., 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.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates nearly 800,000 Americans suffer a stroke each year. Strokes – especially ischemic strokes, which block blood flow to the brain – are the fifth leading cause of death in the U.S., per the CDC.
“To provide best outcomes for our communities, our teams are committed to working together to deliver coordinated stroke care with extreme efficiency,” said Dr. Cockley. “These recognitions from the American Heart Association underscore our commitment to providing all patients the level of expertise they deserve.”
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 9 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.
About ThedaCare
For more than 110 years, ThedaCare® has been committed to improving the health of the communities it serves in northeast and central Wisconsin. The organization delivers care to more than 600,000 residents in 17 counties and employs approximately 7,000 health care professionals. ThedaCare has 180 points of care, including seven hospitals. As an organization committed to being a leader in Population Health, team members are dedicated to empowering people to live their best lives through easy access to individualized care, supporting each person’s own health and wellbeing. ThedaCare also partners with communities to understand unique needs, finding solutions together, and encouraging health awareness and action. ThedaCare is the first in Wisconsin to be a Mayo Clinic Care
Network Member, giving specialists the ability to consult with Mayo Clinic experts on a patient’s care. ThedaCare is a not-for-profit health system with a level II trauma center, comprehensive cancer treatment, stroke and cardiac programs, as well as primary care.
For more information, visit thedacare.org or follow ThedaCare on social media. Members of the media should call Cassandra Wallace, Public and Media Relations Consultant at 920.442.0328 or the ThedaCare Regional Medical Center-Neenah switchboard at 920.729.3100 and ask for the marketing person on call.
