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iBerkshires.com Columnist SectionSue Bush
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NARH Honored For Cardiac Care04:37PM / Monday, May 21, 2007
North Adams - North Adams Regional Hospital recently received
the American Heart Association's "Get With The Guidelines-Coronary Artery Disease" (GWTG-CAD) Initial Performance Achievement Award. The award recognizes NARH's commitment and success for 90 consecutive days in implementing a higher standard of cardiac care that effectively improves treatment of patients hospitalized with coronary artery disease.
To receive the award, NARH consistently complied for 90 days with
the requirements in the GWTG-CAD program.
Under the GWTG-CAD program, patients are started on aggressive risk reduction therapies such as cholesterol-lowering drugs, aspirin, ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers in the hospital and receive smoking cessation and weight management counseling and referrals for cardiac rehabilitation before they are discharged.
Hospitals that receive the award have demonstrated that during one quarter at least 85 percent of its eligible coronary patients (without contraindications) are discharged following the American Heart Association's recommended treatments.
"The American Heart Association applauds North Adams Regional Hospital for its success in implementing the appropriate standards of care and protocols to reduce the number of recurrent events in coronary patients," said Gray Ellrodt, M.D., the American Heart Association volunteer chairman for the national "Get With The GuidelinesSM". "NARH is well above the national average in terms of implementing these life-saving treatments."
Projections have shown that implementation of cardiovascular disease
secondary prevention guidelines nationwide, as promoted in the GWTG-CAD program, could result in saving more than 80,000 lives each year.
"NARH is dedicated to making our cardiac unit among the best in the
country, and the American Heart Association's Get With The GuidelinesSM program is helping us accomplish that by making it easier for our professionals to improve the long-term outcomes of our cardiac patients," said Kate Henault, RN, Director of Critical Care at NARH. "We are pleased to be recognized for our dedication and achievements in cardiac care."
The American Heart Association's GWTG-CAD program is designed to
increase the use of and adherence to the association's secondary prevention guidelines for coronary artery disease.
Developed to assist healthcare professionals follow proven standards and procedures before patients are discharged, GWTG-CAD can help NARH reduce the risk of recurrent heart attacks and death in treated patients. The program, which works by mobilizing teams in acute care hospitals to implement American Heart Association / American College of Cardiology secondary prevention guidelines, was developed with support from an unrestricted educational grant from Merck & Co., Inc.
According to the AHA, more than 450,000 people suffer recurrent heart attacks each year. Statistics also show that within one year of an attack, 25 percent of men and 38 percent of women will die. Within six
years after a heart attack, about 22 percent of men and 46 percent of women will be disabled with heart failure.
The American Heart Association's "Get With The GuidelinesSM" program is being implemented in hospitals around the country.
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