NKCH & MH Honored by AHA/ASA with Gold Plus Awards for Heart Failure Care and Stroke Care

North Kansas City Hospital and Meritas Health has received the highest level of recognition awarded by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for participating in its quality improvement registry: Get With the Guidelines^® and Mission: Lifeline^®. Among NKCH and MH’s six awards are a first-ever Gold Plus Award for Heart Failure Care and a second consecutive Gold Plus Award for Stroke Care.

The awards recognize NKCH and MH’s commitment to following the latest evidence-based guidelines for treating heart failure and stroke to improve patient outcomes.

“Our cardiology and neurology teams each committed to improving heart failure care and stroke care quality measures over a two-year span to qualify for their respective Gold Plus awards,” said Kerri Jenkins, NKCH senior vice president and chief operating officer. “This required elevating our quality measures, for which they targeted improving post-discharge follow-up and symptom management for our heart failure patients and dysphasia screening and intensive statin therapy for our stroke patients. To see their efforts recognized at this elite level is a testament to their continuous efforts to implement new techniques and advance the level of care we provide for our community.”

Heart Failure Care Awards

• GWTG – Heart Failure Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award: These hospitals reached an aggressive goal of 85% compliance with the AHA Heart Failure Achievement Measures for two consecutive calendar years or more; 75% compliance on four select quality measures during that same period; and elevated four different quality measures for each calendar year of the 24-month span.
• Target: Heart Failure^TM Honor Roll: These hospitals achieved all five Target: Heart Failure care components for 50% or more of eligible patients with heart failure discharged from the hospital during a specified time frame.

• Target: Type 2 Diabetes^SM Honor Roll – Heart Failure Care: These hospitals qualified for a Silver level or higher achievement award in Get With The Guidelines – Heart Failure and achieved an Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score of 75% or higher.

Stroke Care Awards

• GWTG – Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award: These hospitals reached a goal of 85% compliance with the ASA Stroke Care Achievement Measures for two consecutive calendar years or more; 75% compliance on four select quality measures during that same period; and elevated four different quality measures for each calendar year of the 24-month span.
• Target: Stroke^SM Honor Roll – Elite Award: These hospitals achieved time to clot-dissolving therapy to 60 minutes or less in 85% or more of applicable acute ischemic stroke patients treated with intravenous tPA (ischemic stroke medication) to improve quality of patient care and outcomes.
• Target: Type 2 Diabetes^SM Honor Roll – Stroke Care: These hospitals qualified for a Silver level or higher achievement award in Get With The Guidelines – Stroke and achieved an Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score of 80% or higher.

Heart disease and stroke are the No. 1 and No. 5 causes of death, respectively, in the United States. According to the American Heart Association, a heart attack or stroke occurs every 40 seconds in the U.S. Studies show patients recover better when doctors consistently follow treatment guidelines/

About Mission: Lifeline

The American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline program helps hospitals and emergency medical services develop systems of care that follow proven standards and procedures for Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction, the most severe type of heart attack. The program works by mobilizing teams across the continuum of care to implement American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Foundation clinical treatment guidelines. For more information, visit heart.org.

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 accelerating recovery, Get with The Guidelines has touched the lives of more than 12 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.