Southeast Hospital has received the American Heart Association’s Get With the Guidelines (GWTG) Heart Failure Silver-Plus Quality Achievement Award.
SoutheastHEALTH earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure patients.
These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and aggressive risk-reduction therapies. Before discharge from the hospital, patients also had a follow-up visit scheduled and received education on managing their heart failure and overall health.
“The award recognizes our ongoing commitment to ensuring heart failure patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines founded in the latest scientific evidence,” Ken Bateman, President and CEO, said.
The award was presented at a recognition event held at the hospital on June 18. American Heart Association representative Katie Troll, director of Quality and Systems Improvement for Missouri presented the award to SoutheastHEALTH Cardiologist Bryan Beck, and the rest of Southeast Hospital’s Heart Failure Team.
“We have really embraced the Get With the Guidelines program – not just because of the recognition we can get, but because it really does give us good guidelines to make sure we standardize care, improve care and decrease readmissions,” Beck said.
The hospital is also recognized on the American Heart Association’s Target: Heart Failure Honor Roll. Hospitals are required to meet specific criteria that improves medication adherence, provides early follow-up care and coordination and that enhances patient education.
“Providing the best, evidence-based care to all heart patients is paramount to our entire cardiac and vascular physician team and is exemplified by our commitment to invest in new technology and facilities that result in improved safety and better outcomes for all of our heart and vascular patients.”
He noted these patient-centered investments recently included a new, hybrid operating suite with technology to advance treatment options for our region’s critically ill heart patients, a new Heart and Vascular Pavilion designed for patient and family comfort and introducing to the region transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TMVR), a minimally invasive approach to replacement of a narrowed aortic valve, and transcatheter MitraClip procedure which allows mitral regurgitation patients to be treated without invasive open heart surgery.
Beck added that most of the work to make sure heart failure patients have improved care and better life quality comes after they are discharged. Beck highlighted Heart Failure Program Coordinator Mary Beth Corgan’s work with patients at the heart failure clinic.
“It doesn’t all just happen in the hospital.” Corgan said. “We really focused on making sure our patients are on their proper medications, we properly follow them up, we call them, we see them in the clinic – we are available for them.”
According to the American Heart Association, more than 6.5 million adults in the United States are living with heart failure. Beck added that heart failure is the leading cause of death in Missouri, with more than 15,000 Missourians dying of heart failure each year.
