Newswise — Neptune, NJ – June 17, 2016 – Jersey Shore University Medical Center and Ocean Medical Center, both part of Meridian CardioVascular Network, have received the Get With The Guidelines®-Heart Failure Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Foundation’s secondary prevention guidelines for patients with heart failure.
Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure is a quality improvement program that helps hospital teams follow the most up-to-date, research-based standards with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing hospital readmissions for heart failure patients. Launched in 2005, numerous published studies have demonstrated the program’s success in achieving patient outcome improvements, including reductions in 30-day readmissions.
Jersey Shore and Ocean earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure patients. These measures include evaluation of the patient, proper use of medications and aggressive risk-reduction therapies, such as ACE inhibitors/ARBs, beta-blockers, diuretics, anticoagulants, and other appropriate therapies. Before patients are discharged, they also receive education on managing their heart failure and overall health, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions.
“Meridian Health is dedicated to making our care for heart failure patients among the best in the country,” says Vincent Vivona, D.O., physician champion, Heart Failure Process Improvement for Meridian Cardiovascular Network. “Implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines–Heart Failure program will help us accomplish this goal by making it easier for our professionals to improve the long-term outcome for these patients.”
“We are pleased to recognize Jersey Shore and Ocean for their commitment to heart failure care,” said Paul Heidenreich, M.D., M.S., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and Professor of Medicine at Stanford University. “Research has shown there are benefits to patients who are treated at hospitals that have adopted the Get With The Guidelines program. Get With the Guidelines research has demonstrated the impact of lowering 30-day readmissions and reducing mortality rates.”
According to the American Heart Association, about 5.7 million adults in the United States suffer from heart failure, with the number expected to rise to eight million by 2030. Statistics show that each year about 870,000 new cases are diagnosed and about 50 percent of those diagnosed will die within five years. However, many heart failure patients can lead a full, enjoyable life when their condition is managed with proper medications or devices and with healthy lifestyle changes.
Meridian CardioVascular Network is anchored by physicians at the region's leading academic medical center, Jersey Shore University Medical Center, and leading community hospitals for heart and vascular care, including Bayshore Community Hospital, Raritan Bay Medical Center-Old Bridge, Raritan Bay Medical Center-Perth Amboy, Riverview Medical Center, Ocean Medical Center, and Southern Ocean Medical Center. Meridian CardioVascular Network provides everything to diagnose, treat, and mend virtually all heart and vascular conditions, and the network's specialists are continuously among the first to provide remarkable treatment and surgical options.
About Jersey Shore University Medical CenterJersey Shore University Medical Center, a member of the Meridian Health family, is a not-for-profit teaching hospital and home to K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital – the first children’s hospital in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Jersey Shore is the regional provider of cardiac surgery, a program which has been ranked among the best in the Northeast, and is home to the only trauma center and stroke rescue center in the region. Through the hospital’s clinical research program, and its affiliation with Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Jersey Shore serves as an academic center dedicated to advancing medical knowledge, training future physicians and providing the community with access to promising medical breakthroughs. For more information about Jersey Shore University Medical Center call 1-800-DOCTORS, or visit www.JerseyShoreUniversityMedicalCenter.com.
About Ocean Medical CenterStanding out as a premier medical center along the Jersey Shore, Ocean Medical Center is home to exceptional talent, state-of-the-art technologies, and a growing medical campus, all surrounded by a community that offers quality of life for individuals and families of all ages. Ocean is a 315-bed non-profit community hospital located in Brick, New Jersey that provides health care programs and services in all major medical disciplines. Some key services include designation as a Primary Stroke Center; brain lab and neurological surgery; DaT Scan and advanced imaging technology; DaVinci robotic surgery; general, thoracic, and vascular surgery; comprehensive cancer care and radiation therapy technologies; a Joint Commission accredited orthopedic program; one of the nation’s most advanced cardiac catheterization laboratories and cardiac services; maternity, Acute Care of the Elderly, and critical care services. The Medical Center recently completed a four-level expansion that has transformed the campus through an $82 million project that sets a foundation for future decades of growth. The main component of the project is a new 44,300 sq. ft. Emergency Department. The Medical Center features Magnet award winning nurses who work in collaboration with the medical staff, and is a System Partner, along with the other Meridian Health facilities, with the Cancer Institute of New Jersey. Ocean Medical Center also operates the state’s first Satellite Emergency Department in Point Pleasant, called the Ocean Care Center. The Medical Center has grown tremendously since opening in 1984 and is well positioned to evolve and respond to the changing community and health care landscape.
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