Mercy Medical Center Recognized for High Quality Stroke Care

SPRINGFIELD — For the fourth year in a row, Mercy Medical Center has received the Get With The Guidelines — Stroke ‘Gold Plus Quality Achievement’ Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Assoc./American Stroke Assoc. for the treatment of stroke patients. Get With The Guidelines — Stroke helps hospital teams provide the most current, research-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. Mercy Medical Center earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include aggressive use of medications and risk-reduction therapies aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients. “For the past four years, the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association has recognized Mercy’s physicians, nurses and staff for consistently providing stroke patients with the right care at the right time,” said Scott Wolf, DO, MPH, senior vice president of Medical Affairs, chief medical officer, and chief operating officer for Mercy Medical Center. “The Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award validates our efforts to ensure that our patients receive care based on internationally-respected clinical guidelines.” Get With The Guidelines — Stroke also helps Mercy’s staff implement prevention measures, such as educating stroke patients about managing their risk factors, recognizing stroke warning signs and ensuring they take their medication properly. Mercy Medical Center has also received the Defect-free Care Award from the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program at the Mass. Department of Public Health (DPH). Defect-free care is achieved when a patient receives the appropriate care based on clinical guidelines.

The Coverdell Defect-free Care Award recognizes hospitals that, from the period of January to December 2014, provide defect-free care to 85{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5} or more of their stroke patients by utilizing all of the interventions for which each patient was eligible. The number of Coverdell hospitals providing defect-free care to the majority of their patients has increased significantly over the past six years, resulting in many more patients receiving high quality care. Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death in the Commonwealth, and a leading cause of adult disability. Immediate assessment and treatment are critical to help improve outcomes.