South Nassau Earns Prestigious Award for Excellence in Heart Disease Care

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Oceanside , NY   – In recognition of its compliance withbest-practice clinical guidelines in cardiac care, South Nassau Communities Hospital has been awarded a Gold Performance Achievement Award   in Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) from theAmerican Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With TheGuidelines SM (GWTG) program. This marks thethird consecutive year that South Nassau has beenrecognized by the program for achieving high standards in the treatment of CAD.   The program presented South Nassau a Silver Award in 2008 and Bronze Award in 2007. The GWTG program is a quality-improvement program that helps hospitals providecardiac and stroke care in accordance with the most up-to-date guidelines andrecommendations.   Hospitals thatcontinually meet or exceed the nationally accepted standards, or guidelines,improve their quality patient care by turning guidelines into “lifelines”.   Upon meeting specific criteria, hospitals arerecognized for performance achievement if at least 85 percent of their cardiacor stroke patients are treated and discharged according to the American HeartAssociation/American Stroke Association’s guidelines and recommendations. Ruth Ragusa, RN, vice president for organizational effectiveness for South Nassau , said, “We will not cease in our pursuit toprovide the patients and communities we serve with standard-setting healthcare.   Our pursuit to develop and identify bestpractices is enduring and our goal is to perform at 100%, 100% of the time.” Researchhas shown that 80,000 lives can be saved annually if the program’s recommendedguidelines for coronary artery disease are implemented nationwide.   GWTG was the first hospital-based program toreceive the prestigious Innovation in Prevention Award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2004.   Presently, nearly 2,000 hospitals use one ormore GWTG modules.   For more information,visit americanheart.org /getwiththeguidelines. Accordingto the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the age-adjusted rateof deaths attributed to heart disease is down 25.8 percent since 1999.   According to the American Heart Association, themain factors that have helped reduce the rate of deaths caused by heart diseaseinclude the establishment of guidelines for the treatment and prevention ofheart attacks; improvements in medications and in technology; and the timelydelivery of appropriate treatments, such as angioplasty or thrombolysis to openblocked coronary arteries. South Nassau ’s Center for Cardiovascular Health is built onthose factors.   The center treatspatients with the combination of advanced technologies and best practices andis equipped with the latest advancements in cardiac digital imaging systems.   It performs a wide range of coronary andperipheral interventional procedures, including balloon angioplasty, stenting,and thrombolytic therapy.   When providingballoon angioplasty in an emergency, the center consistently achieves a door-to-balloon-timeof approximately 70 minutes, which is 20 minutes faster than the medicallyrecommended door-to-balloon time benchmark of 90 minutes .

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