Grady Earns Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award
November 19, 2020
Grady earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients 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 to speed recovery and reduce death and disability for stroke patients. Before discharge, patients should also receive education on managing their health and other care transition interventions, and schedule a follow-up visit.
“Grady is 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 Dr. Michael Frankel, professor & director of vascular neurology, Emory University School of Medicine, chief of neurology and director of Grady’s Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center. “The tools and resources provided help us track and measure our success in meeting evidenced-based clinical guidelines developed to improve patient outcomes.”
Grady also received the Association’s Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite with Advanced Therapy 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. Hospitals measuring Door-To-Device (DTD) times of within 90 minutes for direct arriving and within 60 minutes for transfers in at least 50% of applicable patients qualified for the Target: Stroke Honor Roll Advanced Therapy designation.
Additionally, Grady received the Association’s Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures with more than 90 % compliance for 12 consecutive months for the “Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score.”
Grady has also met specific scientific guidelines as a Comprehensive Stroke Center, featuring a comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients admitted to the emergency department.
“We are pleased to recognize Grady 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.