Albany Med Recognized for Outstanding Clinical Quality In Heart Care
ALBANY, N.Y., December 10, 2007 — Once again, Albany Medical Center has been lauded by the American Heart Association/Stroke Association for being a national leader in following evidence-based guidelines for patients with coronary artery disease and heart failure. By receiving the Sustained Performance Achievement Awards, Albany Med becomes one of only five hospitals in the nation and one of two hospitals in New York State to receive the distinction in multiple categories under the American Heart Association/Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines (GWTG) program.
“Receiving this award signifies that the cardiology team at Albany Med has established itself among the top hospitals in the country for the treatment of heart attack and heart failure,” said Edward Philbin, M.D., associate professor and vice chair for clinical affairs, department of medicine, and George Pataki Chair in Cardiology at Albany Medical Center. “I applaud the physicians and staff at Albany Med who dedicate themselves to implementing the acute and secondary prevention guidelines, and who, by doing so, are doing everything possible to extend the lives of our patients.”
Get With The Guidelines helps ensure that patients treated and discharged receive quality care in accordance with guidelines that will reduce the risk of secondary events. It takes advantage of the “teachable moment,” the time soon after an acute event, when patients are most likely to listen to their healthcare professionals’ treatment recommendations. Studies demonstrate that patients who are taught how to manage their risk factors while still in the hospital reduce their risk of a second heart attack.
Under the protocols, heart patients are started on aggressive risk-reduction therapies such as cholesterol-lowering drugs, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, aspirin, diuretics and anticoagulants in the hospital.
The program is designed to improve patient outcomes and save lives by providing the most current scientific guidelines and evidence-based treatment and therapies for patients in the categories of coronary artery disease, heart failure and stroke. Initial, annual, and sustained performance awards are conferred on hospitals which maintain at least 85 percent adherence to all of the performance measures set forth at the intervals of three consecutive months, 12 consecutive months, and 24 or more consecutive months.
Albany Med received Initial Performance Awards in all three categories in 2005 and 2006 and became the second hospital in the nation to receive the Annual Performance Awards in all three categories in 2007. Albany Med received the Sustained Performance Award in the categories of coronary artery disease and heart failure, which was presented to Dr. Philbin on November 5 at the annual Get With The Guidelines awards ceremony in Orlando, Florida.
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Albany Medical Center is northeastern New York’s only academic health sciences center. It consists of Albany Medical College, Albany Medical Center Hospital and the Albany Medical Center Foundation, Inc. Additional information about Albany Medical Center can be found at www.amc.edu.
For more information on Get With The Guidelines, visit www.americanheart.org/getwiththeguidelines
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