HCN News & Notes

Cooley Dickinson Hospital Recognized for Stroke Care

NORTHAMPTON ― Cooley Dickinson Hospital received the American Heart Assoc./American Stroke Assoc. Get with the Guidelines – Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award, recognizing 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.

Cooley Dickinson Hospital 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 and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. Before discharge, patients should also receive education on managing their health, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care-transition interventions.

In addition, Cooley Dickinson earned the association’s Target Stroke Honor Roll award. To quality for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke.

“We are pleased to recognize Cooley Dickinson Hospital for their commitment to stroke care,” said Dr. Eric Smith, national chairman of the Get with the Guidelines steering committee and an associate professor of Neurology at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. “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.”

According to the American Heart Assoc./American Stroke Assoc., stroke is the number-five cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the U.S. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds, and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.