5 Achievement Awards Given To Howard County General Hospital

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Howard County General Hospital has received five American Heart Association achievement awards for demonstrating commitment to following up-to-date, research-based guidelines for the treatment of heart disease and stroke, leading to more lives saved, shorter recovery times and fewer readmissions to the hospital.

Every 40 seconds, someone in the U.S. has a stroke or heart attack and heart disease and stroke are the No. 1 and No. 5 causes of death in the United States, respectively. Studies show patients can recover better when providers consistently follow treatment guidelines.

Get With The Guidelines and Mission: Lifeline put the expertise of the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association to work for hospitals nationwide, helping ensure patient care is aligned with the latest evidence- and research-based guidelines. As a participant in Mission: Lifeline and Get With The Guidelines programs, Howard County General Hospital qualified for the award by demonstrating how the hospital has committed to improving quality care.

This year, Howard County General Hospital received these achievement awards:

• Get With The Guidelines-Stroke GOLD PLUS recognizes the hospital’s commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment.
• Target: Stroke Honor Roll
• Target: Type II Diabetes Honor Roll Award for meeting quality measures developed with more than 90% of compliance for 12 consecutive months for the “Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score.”
• Mission: Lifeline STEMI Receiving Gold Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures to treat patients who experience an ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), the deadliest type of heart attack, caused by a blockage of blood flow to the heart that requires timely treatment.
• Mission: Lifeline NSTEMI Gold Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures to treat patients experiencing a non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), caused by a partial blockage of blood flow to the heart that requires timely treatment.