Scripps Hospitals Receive Award for Excellent Stroke Care

Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas and Scripps Green Hospital have each received a performance achievement award for meeting strict, evidence-based guidelines related to stroke care during 2011. Both hospitals were granted the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.

Excellence in Stroke Care at Scripps

Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas has also been named to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s “Target: Stroke” honor roll for its commitment to and success in improving care for stroke patients.

The Target: Stroke designation confirms that during the most recent three-month review period, at least 50 percent of all eligible ischemic stroke patients at Scripps Encinitas received the important clot-busting drug known as intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) within 60 minutes of arriving at the hospital. The drug is the only approved acute-stroke treatment for clot-related, or ischemic, stroke and has been shown to reduce stroke-related disability.

“These accolades confirm that people who are admitted to Scripps Encinitas and Scripps Green for stroke treatment are receiving the best care possible,” said Dr. Thomas Chippendale, medical director for the Scripps Health stroke program. “And the care we provide goes beyond saving lives — Scripps also offers services like aggressive acute inpatient and outpatient stroke rehabilitation to ensure patients regain their quality of life and independence after stroke.”

Get With The Guidelines

The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke program helps hospitals improve their quality of care by ensuring that patients are treated according to the latest scientific guidelines for stroke care. Get With The Guidelines recognizes three levels of hospital performance with bronze, silver, and gold awards. The Gold Plus distinction means that Scripps Encinitas and Scripps Green achieved not only 85 percent or higher compliance with performance achievement criteria for at least 24 consecutive months, but also 75 percent or better compliance with a variety of measures that indicate quality of care.

These quality measures include aggressive use of medications such as tPA, antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, DVT prophylaxis, cholesterol reducing drugs and smoking cessation.

“While our stroke program at Scripps Green is small, we’re known for offering not only the latest minimally invasive stroke treatments, but for providing an outstanding patient experience,” said Kate Clarkson, NP, clinical nurse specialist and director of the Scripps Health stroke program. “Receiving the Gold Plus award for the third year in a row at Scripps Green is significant because it validates our commitment to meeting and exceeding the highest national standards for stroke care.”

“Scripps Green and Scripps Encinitas hospitals are to be commended for their commitment to implementing standards of care and protocols for treating stroke patients,” said Lee H. Schwamm, MD, chair of the Get With The Guidelines National Steering Committee. “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.”

The Facts About Stroke

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is one of the leading causes of death and serious, long-term disability in the United States. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds; someone dies of a stroke every four minutes; and 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

ABOUT GET WITH THE GUIDELINES

Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that empowers healthcare teams to save lives and reduce healthcare costs by helping hospitals follow evidence-based guidelines and recommendations. For more information, visit heart.org/quality.

About Scripps Health

Learn more about Scripps Health, a nonprofit integrated health system based in San Diego, Calif.