News at UI Health

The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA) has recognized UI Health with four Get With The Guidelines^® awards for its quality and commitment to providing effective care and treatment, using the most advanced procedures available, for stroke, coronary artery disease, heart failure, and resuscitation care.

UI Health received the following quality achievement awards:

• Get With The Guidelines^® Stroke Gold Plus with

  • Target: Advanced Stroke Therapy Honor Roll

  • Target: Stroke Elite Plus Honor Roll

  • Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll

• Get With The Guidelines^® Coronary Artery Disease STEMI Gold with Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll

• Get With The Guidelines^® Coronary Artery Disease NSTEMI Gold with Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll

• Get With The Guidelines^® Heart Failure Gold Plus with

  • Target: Heart Failure Honor Roll

  • Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll

• Get With The Guidelines® Resuscitation Silver

UI Health has received top stroke recognition for eight consecutive years, the heart failure recognition for six consecutive years, and the NSTEMI and STEMI awards for three.

To qualify for Stroke Gold 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 & Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke. Hospitals recognized with the Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite designation meet door-to-needle times of 60 minutes or less for at least 85% of applicable patients, and hospitals who earn Target: Advanced Stroke Therapy Honor Roll meet door-to-device times of 90 minutes or less for at least 50% of applicable patients. Additionally, hospitals recognized with the Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll designation provide the most up-to-date, evidence-based care to stroke patients with Type 2 diabetes, who may be at higher risk for complications.

UI Health earned Heart Failure Gold Plus by meeting specific criteria that improves medication adherence, provides early follow-up care and coordination, and enhances patient education. The goal is to reduce hospital readmissions and help patients improve their quality of life in managing this chronic condition. To qualify for Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll, hospitals must meet quality measures developed with more than 75% of compliance for 12 consecutive months for the “Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score.”

UI Health earned both the Coronary Artery Disease STEMI Receiving Gold and Coronary Artery Disease NSTEMI Gold by offering rapid, research-based interventions to patients experiencing specific types of heart attacks, known as ST and non-ST elevation myocardial infarctions (STEMI and NSTEMI). The Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll designation recognizes providing heart attack patients with Type 2 diabetes with this same level of high-quality care.

The Resuscitation Silver designation is awarded for following specific protocols for patient safety, medical emergency team response, effective and timely CPR, and post-resuscitation care for patients who experience in-hospital cardiac arrest. UI Health was recognized for both our adult and neo-natal care in this category.

Research has shown that hospitals adhering to clinical measures through the Get With The Guidelines® quality-improvement initiatives can often see fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates. Studies also show patients can recover better when providers consistently follow treatment guidelines such as those associated with the Get With The Guidelines® program. UI Health’s dedication to providing optimal care for stroke and cardiac patients ultimately leads to fewer readmissions to the hospital, shorter recovery times, and, most importantly, more lives saved.