Franklin Hospital is participating in the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines Stroke program. Emergency room director Shirley Spangler said the program's goal is to improve the overall quality of care for stroke patients by improving acute stroke treatment and preventing future strokes and cardiovascular events.
Lee H. Schwamm, M.D. and chair of the Get With The Guidelines National Steering Committee and director of the TeleStroke and Acute Stroke Services at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston commends the hospital for its commitment to implementing standards of care and protocols for treating stroke patients.
"Get With The Guidelines Stroke was developed to help hospitals employ proven science-based treatment guidelines, including those developed by the American Stroke Association.
The American Heart Association and Brain Attack Coalition are also involved. These guidelines address acute stroke management, primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases, secondary prevention of strokes and the establishment of primary stroke centers, he said.
Spangler said as a program participant, Franklin Hospital is encouraged to develop a comprehensive system for providing rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke when patients are admitted to the emergency department.
"This includes being equipped to provide brain-imaging scans, making neurologists available to conduct patient evaluations and using clot-busting medications when appropriate," she said.
Franklin Hospital is also increasing its efforts to prevent secondary strokes through the aggressive use of medications such as statins and anti-platelets as indicated in the secondary stroke prevention guidelines, she said. "Other methods include the treatment of atrial fibrillation and atherosclerosis and management of smoking cessation, weight, exercise, diabetes and cholesterol."
Schwamm said through the program, the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association provides Franklin Hospital training and staffing recommendations, care maps, discharge protocols, standing orders, data-collection and measurement tools.
"The program also facilitates creating and sharing best the practices among participating hospitals," he said. "The full implementation of acute care and secondary prevention recommendations and guidelines is a critical step in saving the lives and improving outcomes of stroke patients."
Spangler said the time is right for Franklin Hospital to be focused on improving the quality of stroke care by implementing Get With The Guidelines Stroke.
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Franklin Hosp. working hard to prevent strokes