For the second year in a row Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital has received the highest level of recognition from the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association for its commitment to quality care for stroke patients. This year BID-Needham received its second AHA/ASA Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Gold Plus Performance Achievement Award recognizing BID-Needham's success in implementing excellent care for stroke patients according to evidence-based guidelines.

"Our stroke program is designed to educate the public as well as our staff about the warning signs of stroke and how to get the appropriate care immediately," said Margot Geffroy, MD, Chief of Neurology. "I am proud of all of the physicians, nurses, and support staff who have worked hard to make BID-Needham the best place to be when every minute counts."

To receive the GWTG-Stroke Gold Plus Performance Achievement Award, the hospital had to maintain 85% or better treatment rates with the American Stroke Association treatment guidelines for two or more years and achieve 75 percent or higher compliance with an additional subset of measures used to measure quality of care. These guidelines include therapies such as administering IV tPA for appropriate patients, antithrombotics during hospitalization as well as at discharge, DVT prophylaxis, anticoagulation for patients with atrial fibrillation, lipid lowering therapy, and smoking cessation counseling.

"Educating people about the early signs of stroke is truly a life saver," said Gigi Girgis, MD, Director of Stroke Service. "Achieving the Gold Plus award for a second time in a row speaks highly of everyone's determination to serve the community with advanced stroke care."
This is the fourth consecutive year BID-Needham has been commended for its commitment to implementing standards of care and protocols for treating stroke patients. The hospital received the GWTG Gold Stroke Award in 2009 and 2008.

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States and a leading cause of serious, long-term disability. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 45 seconds; someone dies of a stroke every three minutes; and 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.