STATE COLLEGE — Mount Nittany Health has announced Mount Nittany Medical Center has recently received four national quality awards for excellence in stroke care:
■ Joint Commission Advanced Certification for Primary Stroke Centers Gold Seal of Approval
Established in 2003, the Gold Seal of Approval is awarded for a two-year period to Joint Commission-accredited acute care hospitals. The certification was derived from the Brain Attack Coalition’s “Recommendations for the Establishment of Primary Stroke Centers” and the “Revised and Updated Recommendations for the Establishment of Primary Stroke Centers.” This is the third time the medical center has earned this accreditation.
■ American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Heart-Check Mark for Advanced Certification for Primary Stroke Center
The Heart-Check Mark is given by the AHA/ASA to programs that successfully complete a rigorous on-site review with Joint Commission experts that evaluate compliance with national disease-specific care standards, as well as specific requirements. Clinical practice guidelines and performance measures are also assessed.
■ American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With the Guidelines’ Stroke Gold Plus
Awarded to hospitals that display excellence in stroke treatment, the Stroke Gold Plus award was established to recognize those hospitals meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and other stroke treatments aligned with the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. Before discharge, patients should also receive education on managing their health and schedule a follow-up visit and other care transition interventions.
Another AHA/ASA recognition, Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite is achieved through meeting 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. To achieve this, time to thrombolytic therapy must be within 60 minutes in 75 percent or more of acute ischemic stroke patients treated with IV tPA.
“Mount Nittany Medical Center is extremely proud to be recognized for the outstanding stroke care we provide. We are thoroughly committed to providing our patients with the highest-quality care, centered on current scientific research to ensure continued improvement in treatment,” said Suzanne Barkley, vice president for quality. “Our continued recognition from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association and the Joint Commission demonstrates our role as a leader in providing quality stroke care to our region.”
The medical center was first recognized as a Primary Stroke Center by the AHA/ASA in 2014 and received the association’s Get With the Guidelines Silver Plus recognition in 2015 and Gold Plus awards for the past three years for stroke care.
For more information, visit www.mountnittany.org/stroke.
