Baptist Health Lexington Recognized for Quality Stroke Care

Baptist Health Lexington has received the 2010 American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Gold Plus Performance Achievement Award.

The award recognizes Baptist Health Lexington's commitment and success in providing excellent care for stroke patients. Baptist Health Lexington is the only hospital in Lexington and one of only two healthcare facilities in Kentucky to be recognized with this award.

To receive the award, Baptist Health Lexington achieved 85 percent of higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines -Stroke Performance Achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month intervals and achieved 75 percent or higher compliance with six of 10 Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality Measures, which are reporting initiatives to measure quality of care.

These measures include aggressive use of medications and therapies, such as tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, deep venous thrombosis prophylaxis, cholesterol-reducing drugs and smoking cessation - all aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients.

Baptist Health Lexington was featured with other Get With The Guidelines Performance Achievement Award winners in a special AHA/ASA ad in the July 2010 issue of U.S. News & World Report, and will be recognized in a ceremony at AHA/ASA's International Stroke Conference in February 2011.