THE HEART HOSPITAL Baylor Plano has received the Get With The Guidelines®-Heart Failure Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association. The recognition signifies that THE HEART HOSPITAL has reached an exceptional goal of treating heart failure patients according to the guidelines of care recommended by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology.
This marks the fifth year that THE HEART HOSPITAL Baylor Plano has been recognized with a quality achievement award.
Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure helps THE HEART HOSPITAL’s staff develop and implement acute and secondary prevention guideline processes to improve patient care and outcomes. The program provides hospitals with a web-based patient management tool, best practice discharge protocols and standing orders, along with a robust registry and real-time benchmarking capabilities to track performance.
The quick and efficient use of guideline procedures can improve the quality of care for heart failure patients, save lives and ultimately, reduce health care costs by lowering the recurrence of heart attacks.
“Recent studies show that patients treated in hospitals participating in the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure program receive a higher quality of care and may experience better outcomes,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., chair of the Get With The Guidelines National Steering Committee and director of the TeleStroke and Acute Stroke Services at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Mass. “THE HEART HOSPITAL Baylor Plano team is to be commended for their commitment to improving the care of their patients.”
Following Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure treatment guidelines, heart failure patients are started on aggressive risk-reduction therapies if needed, including cholesterol-lowering drugs, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, aspirin, diuretics and anticoagulants while in the hospital. Before discharge, they also receive education on managing their heart failure and overall health, including lifestyle modifications and follow-up care. Hospitals must adhere to these measures at a set level for a designated period of time to be eligible for the achievement awards.
“THE HEART HOSPITAL is dedicated to making our inpatient and outpatient programs for heart failure patients among the most effective in the country. The American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines–Heart Failure program helps us to accomplish this goal,” said Mark Valentine, hospital president. “This recognition demonstrates that we are on the right track, and we’re very proud of our team.”
According to the American Heart Association, about 5.7 million people suffer from heart failure. Statistics also show that, each year, 670,000 new cases are diagnosed and more than 277,000 people will die of heart failure. However, many heart failure patients can lead a full, enjoyable life when their condition is managed with proper medications and devices and with healthy lifestyle changes.
Contact:
Sandra Hodgson
469.814.3487
Sandra.Hodgson@baylorhealth.edu
About Baylor Scott & White Health
As the largest not-for-profit health system in the state of Texas, Baylor Scott & White promotes the health and well-being of every individual, family and community it serves. It is committed to making quality care more accessible, convenient and affordable through its integrated delivery network, which includes the Baylor Scott & White Health Plan, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, the Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance and its leading digital health platform – MyBSWHealth. Through 51 hospitals and more than 1,200 access points, including flagship academic medical centers in Dallas, Fort Worth and Temple, the system offers the full continuum of care, from primary to award-winning specialty care. Founded as a Christian ministry of healing more than a century ago, Baylor Scott & White today serves more than three million Texans. For more information, visit: BSWHealth.com
