UMass Memorial Medical Center Receives Gold Quality Achievement Award

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

GoLocalWorcester News Team

UMass Memorial Medical Center received the 2017 American Heart Association’s Get with The Guidelines - Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) Gold Quality Achievement Award.

“This Gold Quality Achievement Award assures our patients and community members that when they come to UMass Memorial Medical Center they are getting A+ level care. Our team of caregivers is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our patients with atrial fibrillation. Implementing the American Heart Association’s Get with The Guidelines-AFib program helps us accomplish this goal by tracking and measuring our success,” Dave McManus, M.D., director, Atrial Fibrillation Program.

UMass is only one of two hospitals in Massachusetts to have earned the award for its atrial fibrillation program.

Earning the Award

UMass Memorial Medical Center earned the Gold Award by reaching a goal of treating atrial fibrillation patients with 85 percent or higher compliance to core standard levels of care for 24 straight months.

“We are pleased to recognize UMass Memorial Medical Center for their commitment to atrial fibrillation care. Research has shown there are benefits to patients who are treated at hospitals that have adopted the Get with The Guidelines program. Get with The Guidelines research has demonstrated the impact of lowering 30-day readmissions and reducing mortality rates,” said Paul Heidenreich, MD, MS, national chairman of the Get with The Guidelines Steering Committee and professor of medicine at Stanford University.

Quality achievement measures include proper use of medications and aggressive risk reduction therapies such as safe anticoagulants to prevent stroke.

Also evaluated is the usage of medications to stabilize the heart rate and rhythm and other medications needed to treat additional heart diseases.

Before they are discharged, patients receive education on managing their condition and stroke risk, counseling if needed, and plans on follow-up care.

Atrial Fibrillation

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.