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Upstate wins three Get With the Guidelines honor

Upstate collects honors for outstanding care in stroke, heart failure and resuscitation

Upstate University Hospital’s stroke and heart failure programs and its success in treating patients who suffer cardiac arrests while in the hospital are being recognized by the American Heart Association for outstanding achievement.

Upstate has received the following awards:

—Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus with Honor Roll Elite and Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll

—Get With the Guidelines-Heart Failure Gold Plus with Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll.

—Get With the Guidelines-Resuscitation Silver Adult Achievement Award.

“These honors from the American Heart Association reflect on the outstanding work our health care teams do every day to deliver the most appropriate and safest care possible to our patients,” said Robert Corona, DO, MBA, chief executive officer of Upstate University Hospital.

For its stroke care, Upstate received the Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus with Honor Roll Elite and Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll.

For its stroke care, Upstate received the Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus with Honor Roll Elite and Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll.

“The recognition we receive each year from the Association is a testament to the care we offer stroke patients by providing them the greatest opportunity at the chance for a full recovery,” said Stroke Program Manager Josh Onyan, BSN, RN, SCRN. “Our stroke team, which comprises many facets of the health care team, is highly skilled and ready at every opportunity to treat patients from across town or across the state.”

The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to providing the most appropriate stroke treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence. Upstate 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 should also receive education on managing their health, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions.

Additionally, Upstate received the Association’s Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed with more than 90 % of compliance for 12 consecutive months for the “Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score.”

Upstate’s stroke care has been honored previously by the American Heart Association. Upstate is the region’s first Comprehensive Stroke Center as designated by DNV Healthcare, a national hospital accrediting body. Upstate Comprehensive Stroke Center is also designated as a Comprehensive Stroke Center from New York State Department of Health.

For its Heart Failure Care, Upstate received the Get with the Guidelines Heart Failure Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award with Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll

“Upstate is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our patients with heart failure by implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-HF initiative,” said Heart Failure Program Coordinator Connie Randolph, RN, MS, CNS, CCCC. “The tools and resources provided help us track and measure our success in meeting evidenced-based clinical guidelines developed to improve patient outcomes.”

The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to ensuring heart failure patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines founded in the latest scientific evidence. The goal is speeding recovery and reducing hospital readmissions for heart failure patients. Upstate earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and aggressive risk-reduction therapies. Before discharge, patients should also receive education on managing their heart failure and overall health, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions.

Additionally, Upstate earned the Target Type 2 Honor Roll award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed with more than 90 % of compliance for 12 consecutive months for the “Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score.”

Upstate has been honored previously by the American Heart Association for its Heart Failure program.

For its work in the area of adult resuscitation, Upstate received Get With The Guidelines®-Resuscitation (Adult) Silver Award.

Upstate has received this award for implementing specific quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association for the treatment of adult patients who suffer cardiopulmonary arrests within the hospital. The Upstate Resuscitation Programs focus is not only saving the lives of these patients, but also striving to provide them with the best quality of life after the event. Our successes have come from our commitment to adhering to the most current guidelines and best practice for treatment. This approach includes implementation and creation of Resuscitation specific protocols, a proactive approach to medical emergencies, utilization of a core/consistent Code Blue Team, and a collaborative approach to post-resuscitation care.       

“Upstate is dedicated to utilizing evidence-based practice to ensure that our patients have the best possible outcomes. Implementation of American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Resuscitation Program is helping us accomplish this by putting best practice and guidelines to work on a daily basis,” said Resuscitation Program Manager Ellen Anderson, BSN, RN, CNML.        

“We are honored to be recognized with this national award for resuscitation,” said Resuscitation Program Quality Coordinator Matthew Grover, BSN, RN, ECLS Specialist. “This is proof that the quality initiatives we have implemented are saving lives.”

Get With The Guidelines-Resuscitation builds on the work of the American Heart Association’s National Registry of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation originally launched in 1999 and has collected in-hospital arrest data from more than 900 hospitals. Data from the registry and the quality program give participating hospitals feedback on their resuscitation practice and patient outcomes. The data also help improve research-based guidelines for in-hospital resuscitation.

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