OHSU is the only hospital in the Portland metro area to receive the American Heart Association’s highest distinction for heart failure care
The OHSU Knight Cardiovascular Institute has been awarded the Get With The Guidelines®–Heart Failure Gold-Plus Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Foundation for consistently meeting advanced quality of care measures for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with heart failure.
Get With The Guidelines–Heart Failure program measures hospital team use of the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing hospital readmissions for heart failure patients. Launched in 2005, numerous published studies have demonstrated the program’s success in achieving patient outcome improvements, including reductions in 30-day readmissions.
“The OHSU Knight Cardiovascular Institute is thrilled to receive this recognition and committed to continuing to meet the internationally respected guidelines outlined by the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines–Heart Failure program,” said James Mudd, M.D., director of the heart failure and heart transplant program at the OHSU Knight Cardiovascular Institute and assistant professor of medicine (cardiovascular medicine) in the OHSU School of Medicine. “OHSU is dedicated to providing the highest quality of care for heart failure patients throughout the Pacific Northwest. Implementing this program ensures we are providing patients the best opportunity to live a full and active life managing this chronic condition.”
OHSU also made the association’s Target: Heart Failure Honor Roll. The honor roll provides hospitals with educational tools, prevention programs and treatment guidelines designed to reduce hospital readmissions and help patients improve their quality of life in managing this chronic condition. Hospitals are required to meet criteria that improves medication adherence, provides early follow-up care and coordination, and enhances patient education.
“We are pleased to recognize OHSU for their commitment to heart failure care,” said Deepak L. Bhatt, M.D., M.P.H., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines steering committee; executive director of Interventional Cardiovascular Programs at Brigham and Women’s Hospital; and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “Studies have shown that hospitals that consistently follow Get With The Guidelines quality improvement measures can reduce patients’ length of stays and 30-day readmission rates, and also reduce disparity gaps in care.”
According to the American Heart Association, about 5.7 million adults in the United States suffer from heart failure, with the number expected to rise to 8 million by 2030. Statistics show that each year about 870,000 new cases are diagnosed and about 50 percent of those diagnosed will die within five years. However, 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.
2015-06-23
