American Heart Assoc. Recognizes Stroke Care at CDH

NORTHAMPTON — Cooley Dickinson Hospital has received the Get With the Guidelines (GWTG) Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Assoc.

The award recognizes Cooley Dickinson’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment according to nationally accepted guidelines. This marks the fifth year that Cooley Dickinson has been recognized with a quality achievement award for stroke care.

Get with the Guidelines – Stroke helps Cooley Dickinson’s staff develop and implement acute and secondary prevention guideline processes to improve patient care and outcomes. The program provides hospitals with a web-based patient-management tool, best-practice discharge protocols and standing orders, along with a robust registry and real-time benchmarking capabilities to track performance.

“The 2013 GWTG Stroke Gold Plus Award recognizes the timely, effective, and expert stroke care that gives our patients the best opportunity for the best recovery. That dedication, knowledge, and compassion of all our staff throughout the hospital makes that possible,” said Michael Spontak, care manager/stroke coordinator at CDH.

The quick and efficient use of guideline procedures can improve the quality of care for stroke patients and may reduce disability and save lives, said Dr. Lee Schwamm, chair of the Get with the Guidelines National Steering Committee and director of the TeleStroke and Acute Stroke Services at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

“Recent studies show that patients treated in hospitals participating in the American Heart Assoc. Get with the Guidelines – Stroke program receive a higher quality of care and may experience better outcomes,” he noted. “The Cooley Dickinson team is to be commended for their commitment to improving the care of their patients.”

Following Get with The Guidelines-Stroke treatment guidelines, patients are started on aggressive risk-reduction therapies including the use of medications such as tPA, antithrombotics, and anticoagulation therapy, along with cholesterol-reducing drugs and smoking-cessation counseling. These are all aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients. Hospitals must adhere to these measures at a set level for a designated period of time to be eligible for the achievement awards.

“Cooley Dickinson Hospital is dedicated to making our care for stroke patients among the best in the country,” said Tammy Cole-Poklewski, director of quality at CDH, and the Get with the Guidelines – Stroke program helps the hospital accomplish that goal. “This recognition demonstrates that we are on the right track, and we’re very proud of our team.”