Mt. Kisco, New York (PRWEB) July 15, 2014
Northern Westchester Hospital has received the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold-Plus Quality Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for the treatment of stroke patients.
Get With The Guidelines Stroke helps hospital teams provide the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. Northern Westchester Hospital earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include aggressive use of medications and risk-reduction therapies aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients.
Northern Westchester Hospital is dedicated to improving the quality of stroke care and The American Heart Association/American Stroke Associations Get With The GuidelinesStroke helps us achieve that goal, said Dr. Akira Todo, Director of the Stroke Program at Northern Westchester Hospital. With this award, our hospital demonstrates our commitment to ensure that our patients receive care based on internationally-respected clinical guidelines.
We are pleased to recognize Northern Westchester Hospital for their commitment and dedication to stroke care, said Deepak L. Bhatt, M.D., M.P.H., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines steering committee and Executive Director of Interventional Cardiovascular Programs at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Studies have shown that hospitals that consistently follow Get With The Guidelines quality improvement measures can reduce patients length of stays and 30-day readmission rates and reduce disparity gaps in care.
Get With The GuidelinesStroke also helps Northern Westchester Hospitals staff implement prevention measures, which include educating stroke patients to manage their risk factors and to be aware of warning signs for stroke, and ensuring they take their medications properly. Hospitals can make customized patient education materials available upon discharge, based on the patients individual risk profiles. The take-away materials are written in an easy-to-understand format in either English or Spanish.
According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the number four 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 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.
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About Northern Westchester Hospital Northern Westchester Hospital (NWH) provides quality, patient-centered care that is close to home through a unique combination of medical expertise, leading-edge technology, and a commitment to humanity. Over 700 highly-skilled physicians, state-of-the-art technology and professional staff of caregivers are all in place to ensure that you and your family receive treatment in a caring, respectful and nurturing environment.
NWH has established extensive internal quality measurements that surpass the standards defined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA). Our high-quality standards help to ensure that the treatment you receive at NWH is among the best in the nation. For a complete list of our services, please visit http://www.nwhc.net.
Originally posted here:
Northern Westchester Hospital Receives Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award