Award Recognizes Albany Med’s Dedication: Hospital Receives Top Honors for Its Work to Educate Cardiac Patients
By Cathleen F. Crowley, Albany Times Union, N.Y.
Apr. 19–ALBANY — Albany Medical Center won a trifecta on Wednesday that honors the hospital’s ability to seize the “teachable moment.”
The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association gave Albany Med an Annual Performance Achievement Award in all three heart care categories: heart attacks, congestive heart failure and strokes. Albany Med is the first hospital in New York and only the second hospital in the nation to earn the triple award.
“It’s huge for us,” said Dr. Edward Philbin, chief of cardiology at Albany Med. “It reflects a broad institutional commitment to providing high-quality care in vast clinical areas.”
The awards mean Albany Med is very good at educating patients when their defenses are down on how to avoid another cardiac episode.
The Heart Association’s “Get With the Guidelines” program capitalizes on what the medical community calls the “teachable moment,” that period when patients who suffered a life-threatening event actually listen to their doctor.
“The patient is usually scared and they’ve realized they are not invincible,” said Dr. Gary Bernardini, director of Stroke and Neurocritical Care at Albany Med. “Usually something bad has happened to them. You’ve caught their attention because they do not want to be in that situation again.”
People are more open to major behavior changes, like smoking cessation or increased exercise, when they are in the throes of an acute medical episode.
“The effect is just profound,” Philbin said. “Emotions are heightened under those circumstances. And it’s proven that those healthy lifestyle choices have a much better chance of sticking.”
Patients also are more likely to follow their doctors’ medication orders, Philbin said. Studies have shown that 80 percent to 90 percent of people prescribed medication while hospitalized were still taking the drug a year later, while only 10 percent of people who received the prescription after their hospitalization were still taking their medicine after a year, Philbin said.
The Heart Association’s “Get With The Guidelines” asks hospitals to track their performance against scientifically proven standards in the three heart care areas. The standards range from the swift administration of drugs in the emergency room to educating patients how to quit smoking. The data are self-reported.
Albany Med is one of 1,212 hospitals in the United States and 91 in New York that voluntarily participate in the program.
Albany Med has formalized the steps of care that heart patients receive since joining the heart association’s program in 2001, Philbin said.
“We essentially have what you might call a pre-flight checklist at the time of discharge to ensure that all the required elements of care, all the gold standards, have been met before a patient leaves,” he said. “In the past, we relied purely on memory, which is really a flawed approach.” F. Crowley can be reached at 454-5348 or by e-mail at ccrowley@timesunion.com.
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