The University of Tennessee Medical Center Earns Numerous Awards for Quality of Care from American Heart Association/American Stroke Association

The University of Tennessee Medical Center earned numerous awards for the quality of care it provides from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With the Guidelines® program. The team at the medical center’s Heart Lung Vascular Institute and certified Comprehensive Cardiac Center received the Get With the Guidelines – Heart Failure Gold Plus Quality Achievement award.

The Heart Failure award recognizes UT Medical Center’s commitment to ensuring heart failure patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines founded in the latest scientific evidence. The goal is speeding recovery and reducing hospital readmissions for heart failure patients. The medical center’s team 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.

“Heart failure is a complex disease and it takes a team working together to ensure these patients receive evidence-based care,” said Jeanne Wohlford, vice president of Heart Lung Vascular Institute Operations at UT Medical Center. “We have worked with the American Heart Association through their Get With the Guidelines tools to improve the care of heart failure patients. We are proud of our providers and clinical team members who work collaboratively to provide the care needed for our patients.”

The team at the certified Comprehensive Stroke Center at UT Medical Center’s Brain & Spine Institute earned the Get With the Guidelines – Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. This award recognizes the medical center for ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence. The recognition came from the stroke care team meeting specific quality achievement measures for a designated period of time for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients.

“It’s an honor to be recognized once again by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association with their highest award for excellence in stroke care,” said Dr. Brian Wiseman, vice president of the Brain & Spine Institute at UT Medical Center. “The award is a testament to the dedication and hard work of the entire Stroke Team at UT Medical Center and the commitment to provide world class stroke care in East Tennessee.”

The stroke care team additionally earned the Association’s Target: Stroke(SM) Honor Roll Elite Plus and Target: Stroke Honor Roll Advanced Therapy awards. The medical center achieved the Elite Plus award by meeting quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with a clot-buster IV medication. The medical center earned the Advanced Therapy award by meeting arrival to treatment targets for providing advanced endovascular treatments for strokes caused by blockages of large blood vessels.

UT Medical Center also received the Association’s Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll award by meeting quality measures developed with more than 90-percent compliance for 12 consecutive months for the “Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score.”