UMass Gets Gold Award For Advances In The Heart Department

WORCESTER, MA—UMass Memorial Medical Center is the proud recipient of the 2017 American Heart Association’s Get with The Guidelines - Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) Gold Quality Achievement Award, the hospital announced on Wednesday. UMass is one of only two hospitals in Massachusetts to have earned this designation for its atrial fibrillation program.

Get With The Guidelines-AFib was developed to assist health care professionals to provide the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines for patients with atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat that can lead to stroke and other complications.

The award recognizes the implementation of specific quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology/Heart Rhythm Society guidelines for the management of patients with atrial fibrillation, continues the press release.

According to the announcement, UMass Memorial Medical Center earned the Gold Award by reaching an aggressive goal of treating atrial fibrillation patients with 85 percent or higher compliance to core standard levels of care - as outlined by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association - for 24 consecutive months. Quality achievement measures include proper use of medications and aggressive risk reduction therapies such as safe anticoagulants to prevent stroke.

Also evaluated is the usage of medications to stabilize the heart rate and rhythm and other medications needed to treat additional heart diseases. Before they are discharged, patients receive education on managing their condition and stroke risk, counseling if needed, and plans on follow-up care.

“This Gold Quality Achievement Award assures our patients and community members that when they come to UMass Memorial Medical Center they are getting A+ level care,” Dave McManus, M.D., director, Atrial Fibrillation Program, said in the release. “Our team of caregivers is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our patients with atrial fibrillation. Implementing the American Heart Association’s Get with The Guidelines-AFib program helps us accomplish this goal by tracking and measuring our success.”

“We are pleased to recognize UMass Memorial Medical Center for their commitment to atrial fibrillation care,” said Paul Heidenreich, MD, MS, national chairman of the Get with The Guidelines Steering Committee and professor of medicine at Stanford University. “Research has shown there are benefits to patients who are treated at hospitals that have adopted the Get with The Guidelines program. Get with The Guidelines research has demonstrated the impact of lowering 30-day readmissions and reducing mortality rates.”

Per the American Heart Association, more than 2.7 million adults suffer from atrial fibrillation. The condition accounts for about one-third of hospitalizations for cardiac rhythm disturbance and is associated with a five-fold increase risk of stroke. Proper treatment of atrial fibrillation can reduce these risks.

Information submitted by UMass Memorial Hospital

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