MemorialCare’s Long Beach Medical Center and Saddleback Medical Center received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines®- Stroke Gold Plus quality achievement awards. Long Beach Medical Center also received the Get With The Guidelines® - Heart Failure Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.
MemorialCare is deeply committed to ensuring high-quality patient care and the best-case outcomes by adhering to the latest treatment guidelines and protocols. Through the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines initiatives, our teams can apply proven knowledge daily, helping patients recover better and live longer, healthier lives.
Shela Kaneshiro, chief clinical transformation officer, MemorialCare
Long Beach and Saddleback Medical Centers earned the awards by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure and stroke patients, ensuring they receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines founded in the latest scientific evidence. These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and aggressive risk-reduction therapies. Before discharge, patients also receive education on managing their overall health, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions.
In addition, Long Beach Medical Center received the Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus, Advanced Therapy, Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll, and Target: Heart Failure Honor Roll. Saddleback Medical Center received the Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus and Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll. These awards recognize both institutions’ commitment to following up-to-date, research-based guidelines for the treatment of heart failure and stroke, ultimately leading to more lives saved, shorter recovery times and fewer readmissions to the hospital.
We are incredibly pleased to recognize MemorialCare’s Long Beach Medical Center and Saddleback Medical Center for their commitment to caring for patients with stroke. Participation in Get With The Guidelines is associated with improved patient outcomes, fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates – a win for health care systems, families and communities.
Steven Messe, M.D., volunteer chairperson of the American Heart Association
Stroke System of Care Advisory Group and professor of neurology and
director of fellowships of neurology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Get With The Guidelines puts the expertise of the American Heart Association to work for hospitals nationwide, helping ensure patient care is aligned with the latest research- and evidence-based guidelines. Get With The Guidelines – Stroke and Heart Failure are in-hospital programs for improving stroke and heart care by promoting consistent adherence to these guidelines, which can minimize the long-term effects of a stroke and even prevent death.
Each year, program participants qualify for the award by demonstrating how their organization has committed to providing quality care for stroke patients. In addition to following treatment guidelines, Get With The Guidelines participants also educate patients to help them manage their health and recovery at home.