Get With The Guidelines® Stroke
At Baptist Health System, we are committed to following the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's (AHA/ASA) Get With The Guidelines® program because its goal is our goal: to improve outcomes in stroke patients. We were the first hospital system in Texas to achieve the program's Stroke Gold Quality Achievement Award. Most recently, our hospitals were awarded the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus with Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite with Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll. That's Baptist Care.
Better quality means better outcomes for you.
The Gold Plus award recognizes Baptist’s commitment and success in implementing excellent care for stroke patients by following evidence-based guidelines.
These measures include:
- Aggressive use of medications, such as antithrombotics and cholesterol reducing drugs
- Anticoagulation therapy
- Deep vein thrombosis prophylaxis
- Smoking cessation counseling.
Each measure is aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients.
Earning a spot on the clot-busting honor roll.
In addition to the most recent Get WIth The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus with Target: Stroke Honor Roll with Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll, Baptist was the first hospital to earn a place on the AHA/ASA's Target: Stroke Honor Roll for improving stroke care. To make this honor roll, at least 75 percent of a hospital's eligible ischemic stroke patients must receive the clot-busting medicine tissue plasminogen activator within 60 minutes of arrival at the hospital; this is known as 'door-to-needle' time.
A thrombolytic, or clot-busting agent, is the only drug class approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the urgent treatment of ischemic stroke. If given intravenously in the first three hours after the start of stroke symptoms, thrombolytics significantly reverse the effects of stroke and reduce permanent disability.
Helping patients during a ‘teachable moment’
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.
At discharge, patients receive educational materials based on their 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 AHA/ASA, 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; someone dies of a stroke every four minutes; and 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.
