East Dallas Times

Doctors Hospital at White Rock Lake — Courtesy Photo

Community Contribution

Doctors Hospital at White Rock Lake recently received the Get With The Guidelines: Heart Failure Gold Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association.

The recognition signifies that Doctors Hospital has reached an aggressive goal of treating heart failure patients with 85 percent compliance for at least 24 months to core standard levels of care as outlined by the AHA-American College of Cardiology secondary prevention guidelines for heart failure patients.

Get With The Guidelines is a quality improvement initiative that provides hospital staff with tools that follow proven evidence-based guidelines and procedures in caring for heart failure patients to prevent future hospitalizations.

“Patients know that when they come to Doctors Hospital at White Rock Lake for cardiac care they will benefit from the clinical excellence and quality care we provide,” said Melbert Hillert Jr., M.D., cardiology medical director at Doctors Hospital. “Assuring the highest possible standards for cardiovascular care is important to improving quality throughout the industry and building a healthier community.”

Under Get With The Guidelines: Heart Failure, heart failure patients are started on aggressive risk reduction therapies such as cholesterol-lowering drugs, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, aspirin, diuretics and anticoagulants while in the hospital. They also receive smoking cessation counseling as well as referrals for cardiac rehabilitation before being discharged if appropriate.

“The full implementation of national heart failure guideline recommended care is a critical step in preventing recurrent hospitalizations and prolonging the lives of heart failure patients,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., chair of the Get With The Guidelines National Steering Committee and director of the TeleStroke and Acute Stroke Services at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “The goal of the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines program is to help hospitals like Doctors Hospital at White Rock Lake implement appropriate evidence-based care and protocols that will reduce disability and the number of deaths in these patients. 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.”