Henry Ford Stroke Centers Earn American Heart Association Quality Awards

DETROIT – All five of Henry Ford Health System’s hospitals that are equipped to treat stroke recently earned an American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Get With The Guidelines - Stroke® recognition, which recognizes the hospitals’ commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally-recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.

The hospitals earned the awards by 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, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions.

“These achievements reflect our staff’s commitment to providing our patients with the most comprehensive stroke care available,” said Alex Chebl, M.D., director of the Division of Vascular Neurology for Henry Ford Health System and director of Henry Ford Hospital's Comprehensive Stroke Center. “The tools and resources provided by the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines - Stroke initiative help us track and measure our success as we continue to strive for clinical excellence and do what is best for each our patients.”

The specific levels of recognition for each hospital are as follows:

• Henry Ford Hospital – Gold Plus and Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite
• Henry Ford Macomb Hospital – Gold Plus and Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite
• Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital – Gold Plus
• Henry Ford Allegiance Health – Gold Plus and Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite
• Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital – Silver Plus

Participation is the first level of Get With The Guidelines recognition. It acknowledges entry of baseline data into the Patient Management Tool™ (PMT). Beyond participation, there are three levels of recognition, determined by the length of demonstrated performance:

• Gold recognizes performance of 24 consecutive months or more.
• Silver recognizes performance of 12 consecutive months.
• Bronze: recognizes performance of 90 consecutive days.

Silver Plus and Gold Plus Quality Awards are advanced levels of recognition, acknowledging hospitals for consistent compliance with Quality Measures embedded within the Patient Management Tool. The Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite designation signifies that the hospital achieved time to thrombolytic therapy within 60 minutes in 85% or more of applicable acute ischemic stroke patients treated with IV tPA to improve quality of patient care and outcomes. Henry Ford Hospital and Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital were also recognized with Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll, which recognizes their commitment to ensuring patients with type 2 diabetes receive the most up-to-date, evidence-based care when hospitalized with a stroke.

“We are pleased to recognize Henry Ford Health System for their commitment to stroke care,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., national chairperson of the Quality Oversight Committee and Executive Vice Chair of Neurology, Director of Acute Stroke Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. “Research has shown that hospitals adhering to clinical measures through the Get With The Guidelines quality improvement initiative can often see fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates.”

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 and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

To learn more or request an appointment with a Henry Ford stroke specialist, please visit henryford.com/stroke. 

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About Henry Ford Health System:
Under the leadership of President and CEO Wright L. Lassiter, III, Henry Ford Health System is a $6.5 billion integrated health system comprised of six hospitals, a health plan, and 250+ sites including medical centers, walk-in and urgent care clinics, pharmacy, eye care facilities and other healthcare retail.

Established in 1915 by auto industry pioneer Henry Ford, the health system now has 32,000 employees and remains home to the 1,900-member Henry Ford Medical Group, one of the nation’s oldest physician groups. An additional 2,200 physicians are also affiliated with the health system through the Henry Ford Physician Network.

Henry Ford is also one of the region’s major academic medical centers, receiving more than $90 million in annual research funding and remaining Michigan’s fourth largest NIH-funded institution. Also an active participant in medical education and training, the health system has trained nearly 40% of physicians currently practicing in the state and also provides education and training for other health professionals including nurses, pharmacists, radiology and respiratory technicians.

About Get With The Guidelines® 
Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with tools and resources to increase adherence to the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal of saving lives and hastening recovery, Get With The Guidelines has touched the lives of more than 9 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org/quality.

MEDIA CONTACT: Jeff Adkins / jadkins6@hfhs.org / 586.307.2027