Contact:
Kathryn Holleman
314-286-0303
[email protected]

ST. LOUIS - The American Stroke Association recently awarded Barnes-Jewish Hospital’s stroke program its Get With The GuidelinesSM–Stroke (GWTG–Stroke) Gold Plus Performance Achievement Award. The award recognizes Barnes-Jewish Hospital and its Washington University physician partners for their commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of stroke care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment according to evidence-based guidelines.

“The Get with the Guidelines – Stroke Gold Plus Award addresses the important element of time in stroke care,” said Jo-Ann Burns, ANP-BC, CNRN, stroke program coordinator.

Through GWTG-Stroke, Barnes-Jewish Hospital  is tracking comprehensive efforts to rapidly diagnose and treat stroke patients admitted to the emergency department. This includes being equipped to provide brain imaging scans, having neurologists available to conduct patient evaluations and using clot-busting medications when appropriate.

To receive the GWTG-Stroke Gold Plus Performance Achievement Award, Barnes-Jewish Hospital achieved 85 percent adherence for at least 24 months to all Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality Achievement indicators and achieved 75 percent or higher compliance with six of 10 Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality Measures, which are reporting initiatives to measure quality of care. These include aggressive use of medications like tPA, antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, DVT prophylaxis, cholesterol reducing drugs, and smoking cessation.

The GWTG Patient Management Tool provides access to up-to-date cardiovascular and stroke science at the point of care. Articles published in leading scientific journals have increasingly documented the effectiveness of Get With The Guidelines-Stroke. The number of acute ischemic stroke patients eligible for treatment is expected to grow over the next decade due to increasing stroke incidence and a large aging population, said Burns.

GWTG is a comprehensive program that provides an online interactive assessment and report tool, resources, quarterly workshops, training and feedback to staff at participating hospitals.  The goal is to improve implementation of evidence-based interventions that are proven to reduce complications after stroke and the chances of a subsequent stroke or heart attack.

Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States.  According to the American Stroke Association, approximately 795,000 people each year experience a new or recurrent stroke.