Northside Hospital & Tampa Bay Heart Institute Recognized for Implementing Quality Heart Disease and Stroke Care
St. Petersburg, FL (July 27, 2009) - Northside Hospital & Tampa Bay Heart Institute has been recognized for achievement in using evidence-based guidelines to provide the best possible care to patients through The American Heart Association/ American Stroke Association’s Get With The GuidelinesSM program.
Northside Hospital & Tampa Bay Heart Institute and 569 other hospitals are featured in a July 28 advertisement in the “America’s Best Hospitals” issue of US News & World Report to commemorate their receipt of Get With The Guidelines Gold or Silver Performance Achievement Award. The awards are given for achievement in coronary artery disease, stroke and/or heart failure treatment.
Hospitals are recognized in each category in which they achieve at least 85 percent compliance to Get With The Guidelines measures. Those hospitals marking 85 percent compliance for 24 consecutive months are given the Gold Performance Achievement Award, with the Silver Performance Achievement award going to those with 85 percent compliance for 12 consecutive months.
Get With The Guidelines is a hospital-based quality-improvement program designed to ensure that hospitals consistently care for cardiac and stroke patients following the most up-to-date guidelines and recommendations. The program addresses coronary artery disease, heart failure and stroke. Currently more than 1,450 hospitals participate in the program.
The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s advertisement recognizes Northside Hospital & Tampa Bay Heart Institute’s commitment and success in performance achievement.
“The American Heart Association is pleased to recognize its top Get With The Guidelines participants,” said. Lee Schwamm, M.D., national chairman, of the Get With The Guidelines steering committee, associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and Vice Chairman of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital. “Healthcare providers who use Get With The Guidelines are armed with the latest evidence-based guidelines and immediate access to clinical decision support. The goal of this initiative is to ultimately improve the quality of life and help reduce deaths among heart and stroke patients.”
“We are proud that the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association have chosen the ‘America’s Best Hospitals’ issue of US News & World Report to recognize Northside Hospital & Tampa Bay Heart Institute for our achievements in their Get With The Guidelines program,” said Steve Daugherty, CEO. “Get With The Guidelines gives our professionals the tools and reports they need to effectively treat our coronary heart disease, heart failure and stroke patients.”
About Northside Hospital & Tampa Bay Heart Institute
Serving the community since 1976, Northside Hospital & Tampa Bay Heart Institute is a 288-bed hospital, specializing in cardiovascular care, stroke, orthopedics and colorectal and general surgery. Our technologically advanced facility, which includes a 64-slice CT scanner, allows our superior physicians and nursing staff to care for our growing community. For more information about Northside Hospital & Tampa Bay Heart Institute, visit our websites at www.NorthsideHospital.com and www.TampaBayHeart.com.
About Get With The Guidelines
Get With The GuidelinesSM (GWTG) is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that empowers healthcare teams to save lives and reduce healthcare costs by helping hospitals follow evidence-based guidelines and recommendations. For more information, visit americanheart.org/getwiththeguidelines.
