The stroke centers at four Providence Health & Services medical centers in the Los Angeles area, including Providence Holy Cross Hospital in Mission Hills, have been recognized for achievement in using evidence-based guidelines to provide quality care to patients through The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines program.

The Primary Stroke Centers at Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center Torrance; Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center San Pedro; Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank; Providence Holy Cross Medical Center; and 814 other hospitals are featured in a special advertisement in the “America’s Best Hospitals” issue of U.S. News & World Report (August 2011) to commemorate their receipt of Get With The Guidelines Gold, Gold Plus, Silver Plus or Silver Performance Achievement Award.

“We are proud the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association have chosen the ‘America’s Best Hospitals’ issue of U.S. News & World Report to recognize four of our medical centers,” said Michael Hunn, senior  vice president and chief executive of Providence Health & Services, Southern California.  “One of our core values is excellence, and Get With The Guidelines gives our professionals the tools and information they need to effectively treat our coronary heart disease, heart failure and stroke patients.”

The Primary Stroke Centers at Providence Little Company of Mary San Pedro and Providence Saint Joseph earned the 2010 Gold Plus Performance Award, for specialized stroke diagnosis and treatment.  Providence Holy Cross received the Silver Performance Award and Providence Little Company of Mary Torrance received the 2010 Silver Plus Performance Achievement Award. The award honors the medical centers’ commitment and success in performance achievement.

Hospitals recognized in each category achieved at least 85 percent compliance with Get With The Guidelines measures. Those achieving 85 percent compliance for 24 consecutive months receive the Gold Performance Achievement Award, with the Silver Performance Achievement Award going to those with 85 percent compliance for 12 consecutive months. Special recognition also was given to those hospitals achieving 85 percent compliance in two or all three categories and/or for being in 75 percent compliance with heart failure and/or stroke measures.

Get With The Guidelines is a hospital-based quality-improvement program designed to ensure that hospitals consistently care for cardiac and stroke patients following the most up-to-date guidelines and recommendations. The program addresses coronary artery disease, heart failure and stroke. Currently more than 1,400 hospitals participate in the program.

“The American Heart Association is pleased to recognize its top Get With The Guidelines participants,” said Lee Schwamm, M.D., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines steering committee, associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and vice chairman of neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital. “Healthcare providers who use Get With The Guidelines are armed with the latest evidence-based guidelines and immediate access to clinical decision support, using a set of tools that have been shown to improve delivery of evidence-based care. The goal of this initiative is to improve the quality of life and help reduce deaths and disability among patients with heart disease and stroke.”

Published scientific studies are providing us with more and more evidence that Get With The Guidelines works.  Patients are getting the right care they need when they need it.  That’s resulting in improved survival.

Providence Health & Services, California, is a Catholic, not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing quality and compassionate health care and reaching out to the poor and the vulnerable in the communities it serves. Providence California operates five acute care medical centers in the Los Angeles area: Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, Providence Tarzana Medical Center, Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Centers in Torrance and San Pedro. The region also has numerous ancillary facilities including Hospice care, long-term care, numerous outpatient clinics and a high school. For information, visit providence.org.

Get With The Guidelines is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that empowers healthcare teams to save lives and reduce healthcare costs by helping hospitals follow evidence-based guidelines and recommendations.  For more information, visit heart.org/quality.