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Temple University Hospital Earns American Heart Association / American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Plus Gold Award

News May 23, 2016

Temple University Hospital has earned the American Heart Association / American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Plus Gold Award, and Target: Stroke (SM) Honor Roll Elite Plus Recognition, for implementing proven quality improvement measures for the treatment of patients who suffer stroke. This program was developed to foster consistent adherence to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines that speed recovery and reduce death and disability for those who experience stroke. To qualify for the Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke. If given intravenously in the first three hours after the start of stroke symptoms, tPA has been shown to reduce the effects of stroke and lessen the chance of permanent disability. Temple University Hospital earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients. “Quick and decisive action makes all the difference when a stroke occurs, and the criteria for this award reflect this urgency,” said Verdi J. DiSesa, MD, MBA, President & CEO of Temple University Hospital. “We have adhered closely to the AHA/ASA Get With The GuideIines Stroke achievement indicators, and have made particularly impressive strides in reducing our ‘door to needle’ time to ensure that stroke patients receive clot-dissolving medication as soon as possible after arrival at the hospital.” “The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association recognize Temple University Hospital for its commitment to stroke care,” said Paul Heidenreich, MD, MS, national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and Professor of Medicine at Stanford University. “Research has shown there are benefits to patients who are treated at hospitals that have adopted the Get With The Guidelines program.” Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke puts the expertise of the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association to work for hospitals nationwide, helping to ensure that the care provided to patients is aligned with the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal to save lives and improve recovery, Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke has helped more than 3 million patients since 2003. According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds, someone dies of a stroke every four minutes, and nearly 800,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

Temple University Hospital has earned the American Heart Association / American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Plus Gold Award, and Target: Stroke (SM) Honor Roll Elite Plus Recognition, for implementing proven quality improvement measures for the treatment of patients who suffer stroke.

This program was developed to foster consistent adherence to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines that speed recovery and reduce death and disability for those who experience stroke.

To qualify for the Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke. If given intravenously in the first three hours after the start of stroke symptoms, tPA has been shown to reduce the effects of stroke and lessen the chance of permanent disability. Temple University Hospital earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients.

“Quick and decisive action makes all the difference when a stroke occurs, and the criteria for this award reflect this urgency,” said Verdi J. DiSesa, MD, MBA, President & CEO of Temple University Hospital. “We have adhered closely to the AHA/ASA Get With The GuideIines Stroke achievement indicators, and have made particularly impressive strides in reducing our ‘door to needle’ time to ensure that stroke patients receive clot-dissolving medication as soon as possible after arrival at the hospital.”

“The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association recognize Temple University Hospital for its commitment to stroke care,” said Paul Heidenreich, MD, MS, national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and Professor of Medicine at Stanford University. “Research has shown there are benefits to patients who are treated at hospitals that have adopted the Get With The Guidelines program.”

Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke puts the expertise of the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association to work for hospitals nationwide, helping to ensure that the care provided to patients is aligned with the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal to save lives and improve recovery, Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke has helped more than 3 million patients since 2003.

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds, someone dies of a stroke every four minutes, and nearly 800,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.