Carteret Health Care First Hospital in NC To be honored with AFIB Quality Award

Carteret Health Care, the new name for Carteret General Hospital is the first Hospital in North Carolina to receive the AFIB Bronze Quality Achievement Award. Recognition for this Get With The Guidelines® award is for implementing 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.

Get With The Guidelines-Heart AFIB was developed to assist healthcare 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.

Carteret Health Care earned the award for meeting specific quality achievement measures at a set level for a designated period. These measures include proper use of medications and aggressive risk reduction therapies such as safe anticoagulants to prevent stroke. Also evaluated is the use of medications to stabilize the heart rate and rhythm and other medications needed to treat additional heart disease. Before they are discharged, patients also receive education on managing their condition and stroke risk, counseling if needed, and plans on follow-up care.

“Carteret Health Care is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our patients with atrial fibrillation, and implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines–AFIB program helps us accomplish this goal by tracking and measuring our success in meeting internationally-respected clinical guidelines,” said Cindy Jones, Vice President Patient Care Services.

“We are pleased to recognize Carteret Health Care for their commitment to atrial fibrillation 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.”

In 2015, Carteret Health Care also met specific scientific guidelines and will be recognized by the American Heart Association in the US News & World Report for achieving Get With The Guidelines Gold Plus achievement award for Heart Failure as well as Bronze award for Stroke care.

According to 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.