March 4, 2008
Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center recently received the American Stroke Association’s "Get With The Guidelines" Stroke (GWTG-Stroke) Gold Performance Achievement Award. The award recognizes Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of stroke care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment according to nationally accepted standards and recommendations.
"With a stroke, time lost is brain lost, and the GWTG-Stroke Gold Performance Achievement Award addresses the important element of time," says Rafael Llinas, M.D., director of The Stroke Center at Johns Hopkins Bayview. "We have developed a comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients admitted to the emergency department. This includes always being equipped to provide brain imaging scans, having neurologists available to conduct patient evaluations and using clot-busting medications when appropriate," explains Dr. Llinas.
To receive the GWTG-Stroke Gold Performance Achievement Award, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center demonstrated 85 percent adherence in the GWTG-Stroke key measures for 24 or more consecutive months. These include aggressive use of medications like TPA, antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, DVT prophylaxis, cholesterol-reducing drugs and smoking cessation.
"The time is right for Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center to be focused on improving the quality of stroke care by implementing GWTG-Stroke. The number of acute ischemic stroke patients eligible for treatment is expected to grow over the next decade due to increasing stroke incidence and a large aging population," says Dr. Llinas.
According to the American Stroke Association, each year approximately 700,000 people suffer a stroke - 500,000 are first attacks and 200,000 are recurrent. Of stroke survivors, 21 percent of men and 24 percent of women die within a year, and for those aged 65 and older, the percentage is even higher.
