Mercy Medical Center leads the nation in heart attack, stroke and heart failure medical care
Mercy Medical Center is one of only two hospitals in the nation to earn the Get With The GuidelinesSM “Triple Crown”award for its exemplary care of cardiac, stroke and heart failure patients.
The three-pronged award comes from the American Heart Association and recognizes that the care Mercy provides for heart attack, stroke and heart failure is aligned with the latest scientific guidelines and is well above the national average for implementing life-saving treatments in these areas.
Mercy’s “Triple Crown” designation is a compilation of the following achievements:
- The Sustained Get With The Guidelines Achievement Award in the care of heart attack patients. Mercy has consistently and successfully implemented these quality measures for 36 consecutive months.
- The Annual Get With the Guidelines Achievement Award in stroke for 12 consecutive months.
- The Annual Get With the Guidelines Achievement Award in heart failure for 12 consecutive months.
Get With the Guidelines helps ensure that patients treated and discharged receive quality care in accordance with guidelines that will reduce the risk of secondary events. These accomplishments signify that Mercy has reached an aggressive goal of treating coronary artery disease, stroke and heart failure patients with a minimum of 85-percent compliance to core standard levels of care outlined by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology secondary prevention guidelines and recommendations.
Under the protocols, patients are started on aggressive risk reduction therapies such as cholesterol-lowering drugs, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, aspirin, diuretics and anticoagulants in the hospital, or in the case of stroke, they may receive tPA, antithrombotics and DVT prophylaxis. They also receive alcohol/drug use and thyroid management counseling and referrals for cardiac rehabilitation before being discharged.
“Mercy is dedicated to making our care for heart disease and stroke patients among the best in the country,” said Mark Young, MD, medical director of Mercy’s Stroke Center . “We will continue in our efforts to build off the success achieved with implementation of this valuable program. We are pleased to be recognized for our dedication and achievements.”
The only other hospital in the nation to receive the “Triple Crown” Annual Performance Achievement Award from the American Heart Association is Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield , Massachusetts .
According to the American Heart Association, each year more than 450,000 people suffer a recurrent heart attack, about five million people suffer from heart failure and about 700,000 people suffer a stroke.
