News at UI Health

The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association recently honored UI Health the Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Achievement Award with Target: Stroke℠ Honor Roll Elite Plus, the highest level of recognition from the AHA/ASA. The award recognizes UI Health's commitment to providing the most appropriate stroke treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines.

Hospitals must achieve 85 percent or higher adherence to all stroke achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month periods and achieve 75 percent or higher compliance with five of eight stroke quality measures to receive the Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.  

To qualify for 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 (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 significantly reduce the effects of stroke and lessen the chance of permanent disability.  

These quality measures are designed to help hospital teams follow the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients.  

"We are extremely proud of this achievement," says Dr. Fernando Testai, medical director of the UI Health Stroke Institute. "Stroke is a condition where time is of the essence, and UI Health is committed to providing the highest level of care, 24/7. This recognition is made possible by the teamwork and dedication of the specialists from different disciplines that care for our stroke patients."