LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Department of Health will formally recognize the Medical Center of South Arkansas and 11 other hospitals for excellence in stroke care performance at the Arkansas Chronic Disease Forum and Cardiovascular Disease Summit today at the Benton Events Center.
The ADH awards are based on hospital performance as documented in the Arkansas Stroke Registry between July 2015 and June 2016. They are given to hospitals for providing defect-free stroke care (85 percent or higher adherence).
“Meeting these performance measures are a testament to excellence in stroke care by these hospitals,” said Dr. Appathurai Balamurugan, state chronic disease director and medical director for the ADH Chronic Disease Branch.
“Through our work with the hospitals, we hope to improve quality of stroke care among Arkansans with this devastating condition,” Balamurugan said.
The 2017 Arkansas Chronic Disease Forum and Cardiovascular Disease Summit aims to integrate health systems and communities by bringing together community partners to share successful strategies for improving the health of Arkansas.
Defect-free care is based on the seven AHA/ASA achievement measures of the “Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Patient Management Tool.”
These measures are benchmarked according to the standards of evidence-based stroke care guidelines to ensure stroke patients receive appropriate and timely care.
The registry is the ADH stroke surveillance and quality improvement program. Oversight for the registry is provided by the Acute Stroke Care Task Force.
The registry partners closely with the AHA/ASA, Emergency Medical Services, the ASCTF and Arkansas Stroke Assistance through Virtual Emergency Support and the Mercy Telestroke system.
The primary goal of the ASR is to perform stroke surveillance, monitor stroke care performance, and provide stroke education and quality improvement assistance to improve stroke patient care and outcomes.
Other hospitals receiving stroke care performance awards for defect-free patient care from the Arkansas Department of Health include Baptist Health Medical Center – Little Rock; CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs; CHI St. Vincent Infirmary; CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System Texarkana; Mercy Hospital Fort Smith; Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas; Mercy Hospital Waldron; Sparks Regional Medical Center Fort Smith; University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences; Wadley Regional Medical Center, Texarkana, Texas; and Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville.