Tennova Healthcare’s Knoxville Area Hospitals Receive Stroke Quality Achievement Awards
8/4/2020
American Heart Association recognizes North Knoxville Medical Center and Turkey Creek Medical Center for commitment to quality stroke care
KNOXVILLE, TN (August 4, 2020) – Tennova Healthcare’s North Knoxville Medical Center received a Get With The Guidelines®–Stroke Gold Plus Achievement Award from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. Turkey Creek Medical Center was also honored with a Get With The Guidelines®–Stroke Gold Achievement Award. These awards recognize Tennova for its commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.
Tennova’s Knoxville area hospitals earned the awards by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and other stroke treatments aligned with the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding up recovery time and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. Before discharge, patients should also receive education on managing their health, be scheduled for a follow-up visit, as well as other care transition interventions.
“Tennova Healthcare is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our stroke patients by implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines initiative,” said Tony Benton, president and chief executive officer of Tennova Healthcare – East Tennessee Market. “The tools and resources help us track and measure our success in meeting evidenced-based clinical guidelines developed to improve patient outcomes.”
Additionally, North Knoxville Medical Center received the Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Elite Award from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. To qualify for this recognition, 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 Tennova Healthcare for their commitment to stroke care,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., national chairperson of the association’s Quality Oversight Committee. “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/American Stroke Association, stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. Nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.
“On average, someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds in the U.S., and someone dies of a stroke every four minutes,” Benton said. “If people having a stroke can access advanced care more quickly, more lives can be saved and more people can avoid the disabilities that stroke so often causes.”
Tennova Healthcare provides a network for emergency stroke care. North Knoxville Medical Center, Turkey Creek Medical Center, Jefferson Memorial Hospital, LaFollette Medical Center and Newport Medical Center have earned Advanced Disease-Specific Care Certification as Acute Stroke Ready Hospitals by The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. This certification recognizes hospitals that meet strict national standards that support better outcomes for stroke care, treatment, rehabilitation and recovery.
If you or a loved one is experiencing the signs or symptoms of a stroke, call 9-1-1 immediately and go directly to the emergency room.
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.
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