The Medical Center, Navicent Health Receives National Quality Achievement Award for AFib Care
American Heart Association Recognizes Macon Hospital Among Peers for AFib Management
The Medical Center, Navicent Health (MCNH) has received the Get With The Guidelines®-AFIB Bronze Quality Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology/Heart Rhythm Society guidelines for the management of patients with atrial fibrillation.
Get With The Guidelines-AFIB was developed to assist healthcare professionals to provide the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines for patients with atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat that can lead to stroke and other complications.
MCNH earned the award for meeting specific quality achievement measures at a set level for a designated period. These measures include proper use of medications and aggressive risk reduction therapies such as safe anticoagulants to prevent stroke. Also evaluated is the use of medications to stabilize the heart rate and rhythm and other medications needed to treat additional heart disease. Before they are discharged, patients also receive education on managing their condition and stroke risk, counseling if needed, and plans on follow-up care.
“The Medical Center, Navicent Health is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our patients with atrial fibrillation, and implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-AFIB program helps us accomplish this goal by tracking and measuring our success in meeting internationally-respected clinical guidelines,” said Tom Oliver, MD, Chief Medical Officer for MCNH.
“We are pleased to recognize The Medical Center, Navicent Health for their commitment to atrial fibrillation care,” said Paul Heidenreich, M.D., M.S., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and Professor of Medicine at Stanford University. “Research has shown there are benefits to patients who are treated at hospitals that have adopted the Get With The Guidelines program. Get With The Guidelines research has demonstrated the impact of lowering 30-day readmissions and reducing mortality rates.”
According to the American Heart Association, more than 2.7 million adults suffer from atrial fibrillation. The condition accounts for about one-third of hospitalizations for cardiac rhythm disturbance and is associated with a five-fold increase risk of stroke. Proper treatment of atrial fibrillation can reduce these risks.
In the attached photo – the Luce Heart Institute at The Medical Center, Navicent Health
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 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 6 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.
About Navicent Health
Navicent Health was incorporated on November 17, 1994, as a nonprofit corporation whose primary purpose is to coordinate The Medical Center, Navicent Health and other affiliated entities in their mission of providing a comprehensive continuum of high quality, reasonably priced healthcare services to the region. Navicent Health has 970 beds for medical, surgical, rehabilitation and hospice purposes. The health system includes The Medical Center, Navicent Health, a nationally recognized tertiary teaching hospital; Beverly Knight Olson Children’s Hospital, Navicent Health, the region’s only dedicated pediatric hospital; Navicent Health Baldwin and Medical Center of Peach County, Navicent Health, both rural critical access hospitals; Rehabilitation Hospital, Navicent Health, the region’s oldest and most experienced rehabilitation provider; Pine Pointe, Navicent Health, which provides palliative and hospice care in homes and in its facility; Carlyle Place, Navicent Health, the area’s first continuing care retirement community; Navicent Health Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Navicent Health; as well as diagnostic and home care services. For more information, please visitwww.navicenthealth.org.
###