American Heart Association Award recognizes Florida Hospital North Pinellas’s commitment to quality stroke care.

Tarpon Springs, FL (PRWEB) May 16, 2016

Florida Hospital North Pinellas, located at 1395 South Pinellas Avenue in Tarpon Springs, 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 and success in ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on latest scientific evidence. Hospitals must achieve 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines-Stroke achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month periods and achieved 75 percent or higher compliance with five of eight Get With the Guidelines-Stroke Quality measures, to receive the Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.        

“A stroke patient loses 1.9 million neurons each minute stroke treatment is delayed. This recognition further demonstrates our commitment to delivering advanced stroke treatments to patients quickly and safely,” said Karen Owensby, Interim CEO and Chief Clinical and Nursing Officer. “Florida Hospital North Pinellas continues to strive for excellence in the acute treatment of stroke patients. The recognition from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke further reinforces our team’s hard work.”

These quality measures are designed to help hospital teams provide the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. They focus on appropriate use of guideline-based care for stroke patients, including aggressive use of medications such as clot-busting and anti-clotting drugs, blood thinners and Cholesterol-reducing drugs, preventive action for deep vein thrombosis and smoking cessation counseling.

Florida Hospital North Pinellas has also met specific scientific guidelines as a Primary Stroke Center, featuring a comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients admitted to the emergency department. “The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association recognize Florida Hospital North Pinellas for its commitment to stroke care,” said Paul Heidenreich, M.D., M.S., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and Professor of Medicine at Stanford University. “Research has shown there are benefits to patients who are treated at hospitals that have adopted the Get With The Guidelines program.”

Get With The Guidelines®-S puts the expertise of the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association to work for hospitals nationwide, helping hospital care teams ensure the care provided to patients is aligned with the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal to save lives and improve recovery time, Get With The Guidelines®-S has impacted more than 3 million patients since 2003.

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the No. 5 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, someone dies of a stroke every four minutes, and nearly 800,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

About Florida Hospital North Pinellas
Florida Hospital North Pinellas, located in Tarpon Springs, is a 168-bed, full-service hospital specializing in cardiovascular medicine, emergency medicine, orthopedics, wound healing, sleep medicine and general surgery including minimally invasive and robotic-assisted procedures. Florida Hospital North Pinellas has been nationally recognized by the American Heart Association, the American Stroke Association, The Joint Commission, and The Leapfrog Group, for excellence in providing quality patient care. Florida Hospital North Pinellas serves both the Pinellas and Pasco communities of West Central Florida. Part of the Adventist Health System, Florida Hospital is a leading health network comprised of 26 hospitals throughout the state. For more information, visit http://www.FHNorthPinellas.com.

About Get With The Guidelines®
Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with tools and resources to increase adherence to the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal of saving lives and hastening recovery, Get With The Guidelines has touched the lives of more than 6 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/05/prweb13418007.htm

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