OLATHE, KAN. (July 11, 2019) – Olathe Medical Center (OMC) has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With the Guidelines® Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus Gold Quality Achievement Award. This award is the highest level of recognition from these associations and recognizes OMC’s commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.
This is the third consecutive year OMC has received the gold award. The award is earned by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. Gold is earned by hospitals who have achieved the standards in 24 consecutive months or more. These measures include proper use of medications, using the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines to speed recovery and reduce death and disability, as well as educating patients on managing their health.
OMC additionally received the association’s Target: Stroke™ Honor Roll Elite award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster medication.
The OMC Stroke Clinical team, with the help of local EMS, completes door to needle time (the time a patient presents to the Emergency Care Center to the time the patient receives the clot-buster medication) in about 40 minutes. That’s 20 minutes faster than the gold standard timeframe endorsed by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association.
“The newly enhanced emergency stroke response is just one of many examples that demonstrates our staff’s dedication to providing the highest level of care possible for our patients,” Stan Holm, President/CEO of Olathe Health, said. “I’m very proud of this achievement by our team in partnership with the outstanding local EMS pre-hospital partners.”
According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.