Hackensack Meridian Health Hospitals Receive Award

On Jun 23, 2017

Hackensack Meridian Health announces that eight of its hospitals received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines® achievement awards for high-quality stroke care.

The following Hackensack Meridian Health hospitals were each recognized for their commitment to providing the most advanced stroke treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence: Hackensack University Medical Center, Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Bayshore Medical Center, Mountainside Medical Center, Ocean Medical Center, Palisades Medical Center, Riverview Medical Center, and Southern Ocean Medical were each recognized for their commitment to providing the most appropriate stroke treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.

“Hackensack Meridian Health is proud to announce that the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association have recognized eight of our hospitals for our world-class stroke care,” said Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, co-CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health. “Our dedicated team members are all leading the way in providing high-quality stroke care, which will help build healthier communities across our region.”

To qualify for the elite status, hospitals must follow stringent guidelines to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival and treatment – what’s known as “door-to-needle time’’ – and includes the rapid administration of clot-busting medication.

Eight Hackensack Meridian Health medical centers received the following American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines® achievement awards:

• Hackensack University Medical Center: Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award with Target: Stroke Honor Roll-Elite
• Jersey Shore University Medical Center: Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award with Target: Stroke Honor Roll-Elite
• Bayshore Medical Center: Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award with Target: Stroke Honor Roll-Elite Plus
• Mountainside Medical Center: Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award
• Ocean Medical Center: Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award with Target: Stroke Honor Roll-Elite
• Palisades Medical Center: Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award with Target: Stroke Honor Roll-Elite
• Riverview Medical Center: Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award with Target: Stroke Honor Roll-Elite
• Southern Ocean Medical Center: Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award with Target: Stroke Honor Roll-Elite Plus

“Hackensack Meridian Health continues to strive for excellence and innovation in the acute treatment of stroke patients,” said John K. Lloyd, FACHE, co-CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health.   “This recognition from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke further demonstrates Hackensack Meridian Health’s commitment to delivering advanced stroke treatments to patients safely and effectively.”

Hospitals must achieve 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines-Stroke achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month periods and achieve 75 percent or higher compliance with five of eight Get With the Guidelines-Stroke Quality measures to receive the Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.

To qualify for the Target: Stroke Honor Roll-Elite, 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. If given intravenously in the first three hours after the start of stroke symptoms, tPA has been shown to significantly reduce the effects of stroke and lessen the chance of permanent disability. Hackensack University Medical Center, Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Palisades Medical Center, Ocean Medical Center and Riverview Medical Center earned the award by achieving Time to Intravenous Thrombolytic Therapy in 60 minutes or less in 75 percent or more of applicable acute ischemic stroke patients treated with IV tPA to improve quality of patient care and outcomes.

To qualify for the Target: Stroke Honor Roll-Elite Plus, hospitals must achieve Time to Intravenous Thrombolytic Therapy in 60 minutes or less in 75 percent or more of applicable acute ischemic stroke patients treated with IV tPA and also achieve door-to-needle time to Intravenous Thrombolytic Therapy within 45 minutes in 50 percent of applicable acute ischemic stroke patients treated with IV tPA to improve quality of patient care and outcomes. Bayshore Medical Center and Southern Ocean Medical Center earned for the Target: Stroke Honor Roll-Elite Plus award.

These quality measures are designed to help hospital teams follow the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients.

“The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association recognize Bayshore Medical Center,  Hackensack University Medical Center, Mountainside Medical Center, Palisades Medical Center, Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Ocean Medical Center, Riverview Medical Center and Southern Ocean Medical Center for their commitment to stroke care,” said Paul Heidenreich, M.D., M.S., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and Professor of Medicine at Stanford University. “Research has shown there are benefits to patients who are treated at hospitals that have adopted the Get With The Guidelines program.”

Get With The Guidelines®-S puts the expertise of the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association to work for hospitals nationwide, helping hospital care teams ensure the care provided to patients is aligned with the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal to save lives and improve recovery time, Get With The Guidelines®-S has impacted more than three million patients since 2003.

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the fifth 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, someone dies of a stroke every four minutes, and nearly 800,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

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