Carteret Health Care recognized with top quality achievement award for heart failure care

Carteret Health Care continues to excel and is recognized for excellence in quality patient care and that dedication has once again been demonstrated in cardiac care. Carteret Health Care has hit the top mark once again and received the Get With The Guidelines®–Heart Failure Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association (AHA). This marks the 6th year that Carteret Health Care has been recognized with a quality achievement award as recognized in the US News & World Report.

“Carteret Health Care is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our heart failure patients, and 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,” said Cindy Jones, Vice President Patient Care Services. “Our community deserves the very best care and this recognition is another example of how we are dedicated to improving the health of everyone.”

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 recognition signifies that Carteret Health Care has reached an aggressive goal of treating heart failure patients with a minimum of 85% compliance to core standard levels of care as outlined by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for 12 consecutive months. In addition, we have demonstrated 75% compliance to 4 out of 9 heart failure quality measures during the 12-month period.

Carteret Health Care earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include 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.

“We are pleased to recognize Carteret Health Care 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 and 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 that 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 AHA, about 5.7 million people suffer from heart failure. Each year, 870,000 new cases are diagnosed and more than 50% of those diagnosed will die within five years. However, many heart failure patients can lead a full, enjoyable life when their condition is managed with proper medications and devices and with healthy lifestyle changes.

In 2015, Carteret Health Care has also met specific scientific guidelines and been recognized by the American Heart Association for achieving Get With The Guidelines Bronze achievement award for Stroke as well as the first hospital in North Carolina for achieving Bronze for AFIB. These accomplishments will be noted in the US News & World Report.

Jones added, “As we work to make Carteret Health Care even better for you and your family, our recognition for heart care, AFIB and stroke are more examples of how we are committed to your health.”