May 3, 2010
Doctors Hospital of Manteca has received the Get With The GuidelinesSM–Heart Failure Gold Performance Achievement Award from the American Heart Association. The recognition signifies that Doctors Hospital of Manteca has reached an aggressive goal of treating heart failure patients with or exceeding 85% compliance for at least 24 months to core standard levels of care as outlined by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology secondary prevention guidelines for heart failure patients.
Get With The Guidelines is a quality improvement initiative that provides hospital staff with tools that follow proven evidence-based guidelines and procedures in caring for heart failure patients to prevent future hospitalizations.
Under Get With The Guidelines–Heart Failure, heart failure patients are started on aggressive risk reduction therapies such as cholesterol-lowering drugs, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, aspirin, diuretics, and anticoagulants in the hospital. They also receive alcohol/drug use and thyroid management counseling as well as referrals for cardiac rehabilitation before being discharged. Doctors Hospital of Manteca has successfully implemented these quality measures since 2004.
“The full implementation of national heart failure guideline recommended care is a critical step in preventing recurrent hospitalizations and prolonging the lives of heart failure patients,” said Gregg C Fonarow, M.D., National Chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and Director of Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center. “The goal of the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines program is to help hospitals like Doctors Hospital of Manteca implement appropriate evidence-based care and protocols that will reduce disability and the number of deaths in these patients.”
According to the American Heart Association, about 5.7 million people suffer from heart failure. Statistics also show each year more than 292,200 people will die of heart failure.
“Doctors Hospital of Manteca is dedicated to making our care for heart failure patients among the best in the country; implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines–Heart Failure program has helped us accomplish this goal by focusing on CHF disease management which ultimately improves the long-term outcome for these patients,” said Katy Marconi, Director of Clinical Quality and Pharmacy.
With The Guidelines–Heart Failure helps Doctors Hospital of Manteca’s staff develop and implement acute and secondary prevention guideline processes. The program includes quality-improvement measures such as care maps, discharge protocols, standing orders and measurement tools. This quick and efficient use of guideline tools will enable Doctors Hospital of Manteca to improve the quality of care it provides heart failure patients, save lives and ultimately, reduce healthcare costs by lowering the recurrence of heart attacks.