Dominican Hospital Lauded for Excellence in Helping Heart-Failure Patients

Dignity Health Dominican Hospital has received the Get With The Guidelines®–Heart Failure Gold-Plus Quality Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Foundation secondary prevention guidelines for heart failure patients.

This marks the third year in a row that Dominican has been recognized with a quality achievement award for heart failure care.

“Dignity Health Dominican Hospital is dedicated to providing the highest quality of care possible for our heart failure patients,” said Dominican Hospital President Nanette Mickiewicz, MD. “Implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines–Heart Failure program helps us to accomplish this goal by tracking and measuring our success in meeting internationally-respected guidelines.”

Get With The Guidelines–Heart Failure is a quality improvement program that helps hospital teams provide the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing hospital readmissions for heart failure patients. The hospital’s participation in the Get With The Guidelines program is completely voluntary.

Dominican earned the Gold-Plus award by meeting specific quality achievement measures, including proper use of medications and aggressive risk-reduction therapies such as cholesterol-lowering drugs, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, aspirin, diuretics and anticoagulants while patients are in the hospital. Before patients are discharged, they also receive education on managing their heart failure and overall health, as well as referrals for cardiac rehabilitation.

In addition to achieving the highest award level possible for heart failure care, Dominican is listed on the association’s Target: Heart Failure Honor Roll. To be included, hospitals are required to meet 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.

As a result of these achievements, Dominican was highlighted in the US News and World Report “Best Hospitals” 2015 edition.

“We are pleased to recognize Dignity Health Dominican Hospital for their commitment to heart failure care,” said Deepak L. Bhatt, M.D., M.P.H., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines steering committee, executive director of Interventional Cardiovascular Programs at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “Studies have shown that hospitals which consistently follow Get With The Guidelines quality improvement measures can reduce patients’ length of stays and 30-day readmission rates, and also reduce disparity gaps in care.”

According to the American Heart Association, about 5.1 million people suffer from heart failure. Each year, 670,000 new cases are diagnosed and more than 275,000 people will die of heart failure. However, many heart failure patients can lead a full life when their condition is managed with proper medications and devices, and with healthy lifestyle changes.

About Dominican Hospital

Dignity Health Dominican Hospital has been caring for the Santa Cruz County community for more than 70 years. Dominican offers emergency services and is a Certified Stroke Center and Chest Pain Center. Dominican’s services include the only comprehensive Cancer Center in Santa Cruz County, a Total Joint Replacement program, and the hospital is a leading provider of neurological services. Dominican regularly receives ‘A’ grades for hospital safety from Leapfrog Group, and has received national recognition for superior safety and quality from Healthgrades, a leading provider of comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals. Dominican also has received several awards for environmental excellence.

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 4 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org/quality orheart.org/myhealthcare.

--Image and information courtesy of Dominican Hospital.