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UPMC St. Margaret Receives 2012 Get With The Guidelines – Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award

UPMC St. Margaret has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines® –Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. The award recognizes UPMC St. Margaret's commitment and success in implementing excellent care for stroke patients, according to evidence-based guidelines.

To earn the award, UPMC St. Margaret achieved 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines–Stroke Quality Achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month intervals, and achieved 75 percent or higher compliance with five of eight Get With The Guidelines – Stroke Quality Measures, which are reporting initiatives to measure quality of care. 

These measures include aggressive use of medications such as tPA, antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, DVT prophylaxis, cholesterol-reducing drugs, and smoking cessation, all aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients.

Get With The Guidelines – Stroke uses the “teachable moment” —the time soon after a patient has had a stroke, when the patient is most likely to listen to and follow guidance from health care professionals. Studies demonstrate that patients who are taught how to manage their risk factors while still in the hospital reduce their risk of a second heart attack or stroke.

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is one of the leading causes of death and serious, long-term disability in the United States. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds; someone dies of a stroke every four minutes; and 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.



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