Fort Wayne, Ind. – Saturday, Feb. 5, 2011 — Parkview Hospital officials today were presented with the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Performance Achievement Award.
The recognition occurred as part of the 9th Annual Parkview Research Symposium, which was held today at the Grand Wayne Center in downtown Fort Wayne.
The award recognizes Parkview Hospital’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of stroke care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment according to nationally accepted standards and recommendations.
To receive the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Performance Achievement Award, Parkview Hospital demonstrated 85% adherence in the program’s key measures for 24 or more consecutive months. These include use of medications such as tPA (clot busting), antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, DVT prophylaxis (ensuring that patients don’t develop blood clots), cholesterol-reducing drugs, and smoking cessation.
Parkview Hospital has developed a comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients. This includes being equipped to provide immediate brain imaging scans, utilizing telemedicine, having neurologists available to conduct patient evaluations and using clot-busting medications when appropriate.
Parkview’s Stanley Wissman Stroke Center is a leader in advancing the use of telemedicine in the region, demonstrated by a commitment to the Stroke Care Now Network, which connects physicians in Fort Wayne with physicians at 22 regional hospitals for real-time stroke diagnosis and treatment decisions using a videoconferencing platform created by Parkview.
As part of the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke program, patients are taught how to manage their risk factors while still in the hospital in an effort to reduce their risk of a second heart attack or stroke. Customized patient education materials are provided, based on patients’ individual risk profiles. The materials are written in an easy-to-understand format.
“Parkview is pleased to be recognized as a national leader in providing excellent stroke care,” said Sue Ehinger, chief operating officer, Parkview Hospital. “Parkview’s Stanley Wissman Stroke Center team is committed to patient-centered care and improving outcomes for stroke patients. The Get With The Guidelines program assists us in exhibiting quality care to patients and their families.”
Parkview is the only current Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Performance Achievement Award recipient in Indiana, and Parkview is recognized as the region’s first certified primary stroke center.
According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States and a leading cause of serious, long-term disability. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 45 seconds; someone dies of a stroke every three minutes; and 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.