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American Heart Association recognizes Providence for high-quality heart care

American Heart Association recognizes Providence for high-quality heart care

Providence Alaska Medical Center receives honors for

preventing heart failure and stroke

ANCHORAGE, AK — Providence Alaska Medical Center has received two national awards for its high-quality care of patients experiencing heart failure and stroke.

PAMC received the Get With The Guidelines–Heart Failure Gold Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association and the Get With The Guidelines–Stroke Bronze Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. This marks the second consecutive year that Providence Alaska Medical Center has been recognized with a Get With The Guidelines quality achievement award.

Approximately 1,600 hospitals participate in the Get With The Guidelines program nationwide. As of December 2012, Providence was one of 154 hospitals who received the Heart Failure Gold Quality Achievement Award and one of 122 hospitals who received the Stroke Bronze Quality Achievement Award.

"We are honored that the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association have again recognized Providence Alaska Medical Center for our achievements in their Get With The Guidelines programs," said Richard Mandsager, MD, chief executive at Providence Alaska Medical Center. "The evidence-based guidelines for heart failure and stroke patients help us continue to provide the best possible care for each individual patient."

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Get With The Guidelines is a hospital-based quality-improvement program designed to ensure that hospitals consistently care for cardiac and stroke patients following the most up-to-date guidelines and recommendations. The program addresses coronary artery disease, heart failure and stroke.

Hospitals earn Bronze recognition for following treatment guidelines in certain key measures at least 85 percent of the time and maintaining this performance level for a minimum of 90 consecutive days. Silver recognition is earned by maintaining 85 percent compliance for at least 12 consecutive months and Gold recognition is earned for maintaining this performance level for two or more consecutive years.

"Recent studies show that patients treated in hospitals participating in the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure program receive a higher quality of care and may experience better outcomes," said Lee H. Schwamm, MD, chair of the Get With The Guidelines National Steering Committee and director of the TeleStroke and Acute Stroke Services at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Mass. "Providence Alaska Medical Center is to be commended for their commitment to improving the care of their patients."

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, 670,000 new heart-failure cases are diagnosed and more than 277,000 people will die of heart failure. Additionally, on average, someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds and someone dies of a stroke every four minutes.

Anchorage

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