Parkland Medical Center receives Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award

Derry, NH - Parkland 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 the 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.

Parkland 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.

"As an Advanced Primary Stroke Center, Parkland is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our stroke patients and is pleased to be recognized for the implementation of the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines-Stroke initiative," said John Skevington, chief executive officer of Parkland Medical Center. "This achievement is the result of a collaborative effort from our EMS personnel, emergency physicians, cardiologists, radiologists, neurologists, and members of the stroke care team for their ongoing commitment to providing around-the-clock life-saving care in our community."

Additionally, Parkland received the Association's StrokeSM Elite/Target award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient's arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke

Parkland has also received the Association's Diabetes Type 2 Honor Roll award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed with more than 90 percent of compliance for 12 consecutive months for the "Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score."

Parkland Medical Center has also met specific scientific guidelines as an Advanced Primary Stroke Center, featuring a comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients admitted to the emergency department.

"We are pleased to recognize Parkland Medical Center for their commitment to stroke care," said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., national chairperson of the Quality Oversight Committee and Executive Vice Chair of Neurology, Director of Acute Stroke Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. "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."

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the number five cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.