Mercy Recognized for Commitment to Quality Stroke Care

SPRINGFIELD — Mercy Medical Center has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get with The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. The award recognizes 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.

Mercy 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.

“Mercy Medical Center is dedicated to providing the highest quality of care to our stroke patients by implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke initiative,” said Mark Dumais, MD, MBA, FACP, Chief Medical Officer for Mercy Medical Center.  “We use the tools and resources provided to ensure we follow evidence-based clinical guidelines developed to optimize stroke patient outcomes. The Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award is recognition of our success.”

Mercy Medical Center additionally received the association’s Target: Stroke Honor Roll award. To qualify 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.

Mercy Medical Center also received the Dysphagia Screening greater than or equal to 90{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5} Award from the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH). The Paul Coverdell  National Acute Stroke Program is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded quality improvement collaborative administered by the DPH, that supports Primary Stroke Service hospitals. This award recognizes hospitals that complete dysphagia screening on at least 90{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5} of stroke patients from January 2017 to December 2017. Additionally, Mercy was recognized for participation in the Coverdell Stroke Systems of Care Pilot Project.

Stroke is the fourth-leading cause of death in the Commonwealth, and a leading cause of adult disability. Immediate assessment and treatment is critical to help improve outcomes.