American Heart Association Awards Recognize PVHMCs Commitment To Quality Heart Failure And Stroke Care

Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center has received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines^®-Heart Failure and Stroke Care Gold Plus Quality Achievement Awards. The awards recognize the hospital’s commitment to ensuring heart failure and stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines founded in the latest scientific evidence.

PVHMC earned the awards by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure and stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications, aggressive risk-reduction therapies, various 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 heart failure and overall health, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions.

“We are dedicated to improving the quality of care for our patients with heart failure and those impacted by stroke by implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines initiatives,” said President and CEO Richard E. Yochum. “The tools and resources provided help us track and measure our success in meeting evidence-based clinical guidelines developed to improve patient outcomes.”

PVHMC is also recognized on the association’s Target: Stroke^SM Honor Roll. To qualify for the Target: Stroke Honor Roll, 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.

“We are pleased to recognize PVHMC for their commitment to heart failure and 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, more than 6.5 million adults in the United States are living with heart failure. Many heart failure patients can lead a full, enjoyable life when their condition is managed with proper medications or devices and with healthy lifestyle changes.