LOS ANGELES (Feb. 23, 2009) – Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Stroke Program received the "Get With The Guidelines" Gold Performance Achievement Award from the American Stroke Association Feb. 19 at the International Stroke Conference.
The Gold Award is presented for sustained performance achievement—at least 24 consecutive months—treating stroke patients with 85 percent or higher compliance to standards of care outlined by the American Stroke Association. This is the second consecutive Gold Performance Achievement Award received by Cedars-Sinai, which is one of only 13 hospitals in California currently earning the Gold distinction for stroke care.
"Stroke is the third leading cause of death and the number one cause of adult disability. Patients do better if they are treated at centers that can rapidly triage and treat patients with an acute stroke and then provide consistent quality care through their hospitalization based on national guidelines. The Get With The Guidelines Gold Award recognizes that a hospital is treating stroke patients according to proven guidelines, quickly and effectively," said David Palestrant, M.D., director of Neuro-critical Care and the Stroke Program at Cedars-Sinai.
Get With The Guidelines promotes continuous quality improvement of acute stroke treatment and ischemic (clot-related) stroke prevention. It focuses on team protocols to ensure that patients are treated and discharged appropriately. The comprehensive program provides an online interactive assessment and reporting tool, resources, quarterly workshops, training and feedback to staff at participating hospitals. The goal is to improve implementation of "evidence-based" interventions that have proved to reduce complications after stroke and the chances of a subsequent stroke or heart attack.
Cedars-Sinai's Stroke Program earned the Bronze Award for initial performance in 2006 and the Silver Award for at least 12 consecutive months' performance in 2007. Its first Gold Award was presented in 2008 and it received the second Gold Award Feb. 19 at the San Diego Convention Center.
Based on its commitment to following national standards and guidelines that can significantly improve outcomes for stroke patients, Cedars-Sinai's Stroke Program recently received certification as a Primary Stroke Center by The Joint Commission.