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Lawrence Hospital Center has been recognized for achievement in using evidence-based guidelines to provide the best possible care to patients through the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines® program.

Lawrence Hospital Center and 789 other hospitals are featured in a special advertisement in the "America’s Best Hospitals" issue of US News & World Report (August issue) to commemorate their receipt of the Get With The Guidelines Silver Plus Performance Achievement Award. A total of 931 awards were given for achievement in heart attack, stroke and heart failure treatment.

Additionally, Lawrence Hospital Center was recognized on the Target: Stroke Honor Roll for exceptional stroke care in ensuring that within the last quarter at least 50 percent of eligible ischemic stroke patients received the intravenous clot-buster, recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (IV rt-PA) within 60 minutes of arriving at the hospital. Known as "door-to-needle" time, this guideline-based therapy can quickly restore blood flow to the brain and is key to limiting stroke damage.

Hospitals recognized in each category achieve at least 85 percent compliance to Get With The Guidelines measures. Those achieving 85 percent compliance for 24 consecutive months receive the Gold Performance Achievement Award, with the Silver Performance Achievement Award going to those with 85 percent compliance for 12 consecutive months. Special recognition is also given for those hospitals achieving 85 percent compliance in two or all three categories and/or for being in 75 percent compliance with heart failure and/or stroke measures.

Get With The Guidelines is a hospital-based quality-improvement program designed to ensure that hospitals consistently care for heart and stroke patients utilizing the most up-to-date guidelines and recommendations. Currently more than 1,400 hospitals participate in the program.

The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s advertisement recognizes Lawrence Hospital Center’s commitment and success in performance achievement.

"We are pleased to recognize the top Get With The Guidelines participants,” said. Lee Schwamm, M.D., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines steering committee, associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and Vice Chairman of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital. “Healthcare providers who use Get With The Guidelines are armed with the latest evidence-based guidelines and immediate access to clinical decision support, using a set of tools that have been shown to improve delivery of evidence-based care. The goal of this initiative is to improve the quality of life and help reduce deaths and disability among patients with heart disease and stroke."

"Published scientific studies are providing us with more and more evidence that Get With The Guidelines works. Patients are getting the right care they need when they need it. That’s resulting in improved survival."

"We are proud that the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association has chosen the ‘America’s Best Hospitals’ issue of US News & World Report to recognize Lawrence Hospital Center for our achievements in their Get With The Guidelines program," said Ronald Silverman, MD, Chief of Neurology. "Get With The Guidelines gives our professionals the tools and reports they need to effectively treat our patients."

About Get With The Guidelines

Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that empowers healthcare teams to save lives and reduce healthcare costs by helping hospitals follow evidence-based guidelines and recommendations. For more information, visit heart.org/quality.