LIJ Forest Hills recognized for quality stroke care
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Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Forest Hills recently received the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Gold and Quality Achievement awards.
According to the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association, stroke is the fifth highest 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.
The Quality Achievement award signifies the hospital’s commitment to treating stroke patients with the most appropriate service according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines.
LIJ Forest Hills earned the award by reaching specific achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients during a set amount of time.
Those measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and other stroke treatments aligned with the guidelines that promote the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients.
Before discharge, the hospital provides patients with education on managing their health, getting a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions.
“We are dedicated to improving the quality of care for our stroke patients,” said Dr. Rohan Arora, the hospital’s director of stroke. “The tools and resources provided help us track and measure our success in meeting evidenced-based clinical guidelines developed to improve patient outcomes.”
Additionally, LIJ Forest Hills received the Target: Stroke SM Honor Roll Elite award for the hospital’s ability to 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, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke.
“We are pleased to recognize LIJ Forest Hills for their commitment to stroke care,” said Lee H. Schwamm, chairperson of the Quality Oversight Committee. “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.”
