AdventHealth Shawnee Mission Receives Get With The Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award

September 21, 2020 — AdventHealth Shawnee Mission was awarded the Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Gold Plus Award

from the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association. 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.

AdventHealth Shawnee Mission met specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients. 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 also receive care transition assistance, including education on managing their health and scheduling a follow-up visit.

“We are dedicated to improving the quality of care for our stroke patients by implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke initiative,” said Gordon Kelley, MD, Medical Director of the Stroke Center for AdventHealth Shawnee Mission. “The tools and resources provided help us track and measure our success in meeting evidenced-based clinical guidelines developed to improve patient outcomes.”

AdventHealth Shawnee Mission additionally received the Association’s Target: Stroke Elite 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 Alteplase, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke.

“We are pleased to recognize AdventHealth Shawnee Mission for their commitment to stroke care,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., national chairperson of the Quality Oversight Committee and Executive Vice Chair of Neurology, Director of Acute Stroke Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. “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 Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. 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.