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Get with the guidelines recognition

Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Hospital are honored with an award for their higher standards of stroke care in patients

October 15, 2012

The American Stroke Association recently recognized Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Hospital with its Get With The Guidelines–Stroke (GWTG–Stroke) Gold Plus Performance Achievement Award for their success in implementing a higher standard of stroke care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment according to evidence-based guidelines.

“The Get with the Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Award addresses the important element of time in stroke care,” said Jo-Ann Burns, ANP-BC, CNRN, stroke program coordinator.

Through GWTG-Stroke, Barnes-Jewish Hospital is tracking comprehensive efforts to rapidly diagnose and treat stroke patients admitted to the emergency department. This includes being equipped to provide brain imaging scans, having neurologists available to conduct patient evaluations and using clot-busting medications when appropriate.

To receive the GWTG-Stroke Gold Plus Performance Achievement Award, Barnes-Jewish Hospital achieved 85 percent adherence for at least 24 months to all GWTG-Stroke Quality Achievement indicators and achieved 75 percent or higher compliance with six of 10 GWTG-Stroke Quality Measures, which are reporting initiatives to measure quality of care. These include aggressive use of medications such as the clot-buster tPA, anti-clotting therapy, cholesterol reducing drugs and smoking cessation.

The GWTG-Stroke Patient Management Tool provides access to up-to-date cardiovascular and stroke science at the point of care. Published articles have increasingly documented the effectiveness of Get With The Guidelines-Stroke.

Read more about the signs of a stroke.