Doctors Medical Center has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines^®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award with Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus and the Heart Failure Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. These awards recognize the hospital’s commitment to ensuring stroke and heart failure patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.

Doctors Medical Center earned the awards by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke and heart failure patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and other treatments aligned with the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability. Before discharge, patients should also receive education on managing their health, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions.

“We are dedicated to improving the quality of care for our stroke and heart failure patients by implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke initiatives,” said Warren Kirk, CEO of Doctors Medical Center. “The tools and resources provided help us track and measure our success in meeting evidenced-based clinical guidelines developed to improve patient outcomes.”

Doctors Medical Center also received the association’s Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus. 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 Doctors Medical Center for their commitment to stroke and heart failure care,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., national chairperson of the Quality Oversight Committee and Executive Vice Chair of Neurology, Director of Acute Stroke Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. “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.”

Doctors Medical Center is also proud to announce it has received the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline® Heart Attack Receiving Center Accreditation. The accreditation program recognizes centers that meet or exceed quality of care measures for people experiencing the most severe type of heart attack, ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), in which blood flow is completely blocked to a portion of the heart. The accreditation identifies healthcare facilities that meet specific criteria for lifesaving heart attack treatments that restore blood flow.

Doctors Medical Center underwent reviews by accreditation specialists from the American Heart Association. As a result, the hospital will display the American Heart Association Mission: Lifeline® Heart Attack Receiving Center Accreditation certification mark.

The American Heart Association’s overall goal for Mission: Lifeline® Heart Attack Receiving Center Accreditation is to significantly reduce cardiac death in patients by teaching the public to recognize and react to early symptoms of a heart attack, reduce the time it takes to receive life-saving treatment and increase the accuracy and effectiveness of treatment administered. 

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 and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year. In addition, the American Heart Association says more than 6.5 million adults in the country are living with heart failure. Many heart failure patients can lead a full, enjoyable life when their condition is managed with proper medications or devices and with healthy lifestyle changes.