Tampa, Florida (May 23, 2017) – Tampa Community was recently presented with the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With the Guidelines® Stroke Silver Plus Quality Award. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment and success in implementing a high standard of care ensuring that stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized evidence-based guidelines.
To receive the Silver Plus Quality Award, hospitals must achieve 85% or higher adherence to all Get With the Guidelines®/Stroke Achievement Indicators for at least 12 consecutive months and during the same period of time achieve 75% or higher compliance with five of eight Get With the Guidelines® Stroke Quality Measures which are reporting initiatives to measure quality care.
These measures are evidence-based treatments known to result in improved patient outcomes. They focus on appropriate use of guideline-based care for stroke patients, including aggressive use of medications such as clot-busting and anti-clotting drugs, blood thinners and cholesterol reducing drugs, preventive action for deep vein thrombosis and smoking cessation counseling.
Tampa Community Hospital developed a primary stroke center, featuring a comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients admitted to the emergency department. As a result, the staff is always prepared to provide brain imaging scans and neurologists are on hand to conduct patient evaluations and using clot-busting medications when appropriate.
For providers, Get With The Guidelines®–Stroke offers quality-improvement measures, discharge protocols, standing orders and other measurement tools. Providing hospitals with resources and information that make it easier to follow treatment guidelines has been shown to improve the quality of care provided to stroke patients. This can help save lives and ultimately reduce overall healthcare costs by lowering readmission rates for stroke patients.
For patients, Get With The Guidelines®–Stroke uses the “teachable moment,” the time soon after a patient has had a stroke, when they are most likely to listen to and follow their healthcare professionals’ guidance. 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.
Through Get With The Guidelines®–Stroke, customized patient education materials are provided at discharge, based on patients’ individual risk profiles. The take-away materials are written in an easy-to-understand format and are available in English and Spanish. In addition, the Get With The Guidelines Patient Management Tool gives healthcare providers access to up-to-date cardiovascular and stroke science at the point-of-care.
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 and 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.
About Tampa Community Hospital
For more than 35 years, Tampa Community Hospital (formerly Town and Country Hospital) has served northwest Hillsborough and northeast Pinellas counties with comprehensive medical, diagnostic, surgical and emergency services. Our 201-bed hospital is committed to providing high quality health care with a focus on customer service. With a team of 450 employees and over 300 physicians, Tampa Community Hospital is equipped with the expertise and technology to provide a wide array of health services. For more information or a free physician referral, call 1-855-245-8330 or go to tampacommunityhospital.com.