American Heart Association Presents Achievement Awards to University Hospital

On Aug 27, 2021

University Hospital has received three American Heart Association Achievement Awards for implementing quality improvement measures that ensure cardiovascular patients receive efficient and coordinated care, ultimately leading to more lives saved, shorter recovery times and fewer returns to the hospital.

Nearly half of all adults in the U.S. have experienced some form of cardiovascular disease – including heart attack, stroke and heart failure. For patients with conditions that are severe enough to be transported or admitted to a hospital, time is critical.

The American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline^® and Get With The Guidelines^® programs help reduce barriers to prompt treatment for cardiovascular events. As a participant in both programs, University Hospital applied for the award recognitions by demonstrating how the hospital has committed to improving quality care for patients.

This year, University Hospital received the following Achievement Awards and honors:

• Mission: Lifeline^® – SILVER – STEMI Receiving Center
• Get With The Guidelines® – Heart Failure – GOLD PLUS
  • Target: Heart FailureSM Honor Roll
• Get With The Guidelines^® – Stroke – GOLD PLUS
  • Stroke^SM Honor Roll Elite
  • Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll

Mission: Lifeline^® is the American Heart Association’s national initiative to advance the system of care for patients with acute, high-risk time sensitive life and/or quality of life threatening disease states, such as ST Elevate Myocardial Infarction (STEMI Heart Attack), Non-ST Elevated Myocardial Infarction (NSTEMI Heart Attack), Stroke, and Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest. The overarching goals of Mission: Lifeline are to bring stakeholders together in a collaborative manner and to reduce mortality and morbidity for these patients while improving overall quality of care and patient outcomes.

Get With The Guidelines^® – Stroke is an in-hospital program for improving stroke care by promoting consistent adherence to the latest scientific treatment guidelines. Numerous published studies demonstrate the program’s success in achieving measurable patient outcome improvements. University Hospital is recognized on the association’s Target: Heart Failure^SM Honor Roll. Hospitals are required to meet specific criteria that improves medication adherence, provides early follow-up care and coordination and enhances patient education. The goal is to reduce hospital readmissions and help patients improve their quality of life in managing this chronic condition.

University Hospital also received the Association’s Target: Stroke^SM Honor Roll Elite Therapy honor. 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. Lastly, the Hospital received the Association’s Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll recognition. To qualify for this honor, hospitals must meet quality measures developed with more than 90% of compliance for 12 consecutive months for the “Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score.”

“University Hospital is honored to be recognized by the American Heart Association for our work in maximizing survival and recovery after cardiovascular events,” said Shereef Elnahal, MD, MBA, president and CEO of University Hospital. “The Mission: Lifeline and Get with the Guidelines programs help put proven knowledge and guidelines to work on a daily basis, and we have been focused on holding true to them.”

“We are pleased to recognize University Hospital for their commitment to cardiovascular care,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., national chairperson of the American Heart Association’s Quality Oversight Committee and executive vice chair of Neurology, director of Acute Stroke Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. “Research has shown that hospitals adhering to clinical measures through the American Heart Association’s quality improvement programs often see fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates.”

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