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Houston Northwest Medical Center Receives American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines Gold Performance Achievement Award for Heart Failure and Coronary Artery Disease

Posted on: Monday, 8 June 2009, 15:37 CDT

HOUSTON, June 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Houston Northwest Medical Center recently received the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines-Coronary Artery Disease (GWTG-CAD) Gold Performance Achievement Award and the Get With The Guidelines(SM)-Heart Failure (GWTG-HF) Gold Performance Achievement Award. The awards recognize Houston Northwest Medical Center's commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care that effectively improves treatment of patients hospitalized with coronary artery disease and heart failure. This higher standard of care helps ensure that patients receive treatment according to nationally accepted standards and recommendations.

The American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines-CAD program helps hospitals increase the use of and adherence to the association's secondary prevention guidelines for coronary artery disease. Developed to assist healthcare professionals follow proven standards and procedures before patients are discharged, Get With The Guidelines-CAD can help Houston Northwest Medical Center reduce the risk of recurrent heart attacks and death in treated patients. The program works by mobilizing teams in acute care hospitals to implement American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology secondary prevention guidelines.

Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure helps Houston Northwest Medical Center's staff develop and implement acute and secondary prevention guideline processes. The program includes quality-improvement measures such as care maps, discharge protocols, standing orders and measurement tools. This quick and efficient use of guideline tools will enable Houston Northwest Medical Center to improve the quality of care it provides heart failure patients, save lives and ultimately, reduce healthcare costs by lowering the recurrence of heart attacks.

"Houston Northwest Medical Center is dedicated to making our cardiac unit among the best in the country, and the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines program is helping us accomplish that by making it easier for our professionals to improve the long-term outcomes of our cardiac patients," said Drew Kahn, chief executive officer at Houston Northwest Medical Center. "We are pleased to be recognized for our dedication and achievements in cardiac care."

"The American Heart Association applauds Houston Northwest Medical Center for its success in implementing the appropriate evidence-based care and protocols to reduce the number of recurrent events and deaths in cardiovascular disease patients," said Gregg C. Fonarow, M.D., National Chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and Director of Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center. "Houston Northwest Medical Center has achieved a high level of performance in terms of implementing these life-prolonging treatments."

To learn more about Houston Northwest Medical Center's cardiovascular and stroke services, call 281-580-0000 or visit www.hnmc.com.

About Houston Northwest Medical Center

Houston Northwest Medical Center is located at 710 F.M. 1960 West in Houston. Houston Northwest Medical Center has been serving the North Houston community for 35 years. The hospital is an Accredited Chest Pain Center by the Society of Chest Pain Centers. Houston Northwest Medical Center ranks among the nation's top hospitals for several service lines including critical care, stroke and general surgery by HealthGrades, an independent health care ratings company. Houston Northwest Medical Center is also a designated Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. To learn more about Houston Northwest Medical Center, a facility accredited by The Joint Commission, visit www.hnmc.com.

Contact: Theresa Lewis Houston Northwest Medical Center (281) 440-2444 Theresa.Lewis@tenethealth.com

SOURCE Houston Northwest Medical Center

Source: PR Newswire

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