HIALEAH, FL, -- Hialeah Hospital has received the Get With The GuidelinesSM--Heart Failure (GWTG--Heart Failure) Gold Performance Achievement Award from the American Heart Association.
The recognition signifies that Hialeah Hospital has reached an aggressive goal of treating heart failure patients with 85% compliance for at least 24 months to core standard levels of care as outlined by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology secondary prevention guidelines for heart failure patients.
Get With The Guidelines is a quality improvement initiative that provides hospital staff with tools that follow proven evidence-based guidelines and procedures in caring for heart failure patients to prevent future hospitalizations.
Under GWTG--Heart Failure, heart failure patients are started on aggressive risk reduction therapies such as cholesterol-lowering drugs, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, aspirin, diuretics, and anticoagulants in the hospital. They also receive alcohol/drug use and thyroid management counseling as well as referrals for cardiac rehabilitation before being discharged.
"The full implementation of national heart failure guideline recommended care is a critical step in preventing recurrent hospitalizations and prolonging the lives of heart failure patients," said Gregg C Fonarow, M.D., National Chairman of the GWTG Steering Committee and Director of Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center.
"The goal of the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines program is to help hospitals like Hialeah Hospital implement appropriate evidence-based care and protocols that will reduce disability and the number of deaths in these patients."
According to the American Heart Association, about 5.2 million people suffer from heart failure. Statistics also show each year more than 57,000 people will die of heart failure.
"Hialeah Hospital is dedicated to making our care for heart failure patients among the best in the country and implementing the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines--Heart Failure program will help us accomplish this goal by making it easier for our professionals to improve the long-term outcome for these patients," said Ralph Aleman, CEO with Hialeah Hospital.
GWTG--Heart Failure helps Hialeah Hospital's staff develop and implement acute and secondary prevention guideline processes. The program includes quality-improvement measures such as care maps, discharge protocols, standing orders and measurement tools.
This quick and efficient use of guideline tools will enable Hialeah Hospital to improve the quality of care it provides heart failure patients, save lives and ultimately, reduce healthcare costs by lowering the recurrence of heart attacks.
The GWTG-Heart Failure module, developed with support from an unrestricted educational grant from GlaxoSmithKline, is being implemented in hospitals around the country.
About Hialeah Hospital
Hialeah Hospital, part of Tenet's Florida region, is a 378-bed acute care hospital located at 651 East 25th Street in Hialeah. The hospital has been serving the medical and health care needs of central to north Miami-Dade County since 1951.
Hialeah Hospital offers a broad range of health care services, including 24-hour emergency care, cardiology, neurosurgery, obstetrics, a Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, laboratory, a surgical weight loss program that has been designated a Center of Excellence by the American Society for Bariatric Surgery, a sleep disorders program, and a complement of imaging services.
Hialeah Hospital has earned a five-star rating and is ranked among the top five percent of hospitals in the nation for maternity care for six years in a row by HealthGrades, a health care quality ratings company. Hialeah Hospital is fully accredited by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the nation's oldest and largest hospital accreditation agency.