Lakeview Hospital receives get with the guidelines - Stroke gold plus quality achievement award

Lakeview Hospital , a campus of Tulane Medical Center, has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®–Stroke GOLD PLUS Quality Achievement Award. The award recognizes a 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. This marks the third consecutive year Lakeview Regional has been recognized with this award.

“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 Dr. William Lunn, president and CEO of Tulane Health System. “The tools and resources they provide help us track and measure our success in meeting evidenced-based clinical guidelines developed to improve patient outcomes.”

Lakeview Regional earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level 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 with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. Before discharge, patients also receive education on managing their health, getting a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions.

“We are pleased to recognize Lakeview Regional for their commitment to stroke care,” said Dr. Eric Smith, national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and an associate professor of neurology at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. “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.”

Lakeview Hospital was not the only Tulane Health System Hospital to earn an American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®–Stroke GOLD PLUS Quality Achievement Award. Tulane Medical Center in downtown New Orleans received the Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Achievement Award with Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Elite Plus for the third year in a row.

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 suffers a stroke every 40 seconds, someone dies of a stroke every four minutes, and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year. Get With The Guidelines–Stroke program helps hospital teams provide the latest, research-based guidelines with the goal of saving lives and hastening recovery. Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke has impacted more than 6 million patients nationwide since 2001.