Doctors Medical Center Receives Quality Achievement Awards

American Heart Association recognizes Doctors Medical Center’s commitment to quality care

Modesto, Calif. – Doctors Medical Center has received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines – Heart Failure Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award and the AFib Bronze Quality Achievement Award. These awards recognize the hospital’s commitment to ensuring heart failure and atrial fibrillation patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines founded in the latest scientific evidence. The goal is speeding recovery and reducing hospital readmissions.

Doctors Medical Center earned these awards for meeting specific quality achievement measures at a set level for a designated period. For heart failure, these measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and aggressive risk-reduction therapies. For AFib, these measures include providing appropriate medications and risk reduction therapies to prevent stroke, stabilize the heart rate and rhythm and treat additional heart disease. AFib causes irregular heartbeat that can lead to stroke and other complications. Before discharge, patients should also receive education on managing their condition and plans on follow-up care.

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

“We are pleased to recognize Doctors Medical Center for their commitment to heart failure and atrial fibrillation care,” said Eric E. Smith, M.D., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and an associate professor of neurology at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. “Research has shown that hospitals adhering to clinical measures through the Get With The Guidelines quality improvement initiative can often see fewer admissions and lower mortality rates.”

According to the American Heart Association, more than 6.5 million adults in the United States 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. More than 2.7 million adults suffer from atrial fibrillation, according to the AHA. The condition accounts for about one-third of hospitalizations for cardiac rhythm disturbance and is associated with a five-fold increase risk of stroke. Proper treatment of atrial fibrillation can reduce these risks.