Seven Hackensack Meridian Health Medical Centers Nationally Recognized for their Commitment to Providing High-Quality Heart Failure Care

The awards recognize the medical centers’ commitment to improving outcomes for patients with heart failure, reducing patient readmissions and providing more healthy days at home.

Seven Hackensack Meridian Health medical centers have received American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines® - Heart Failure Quality Achievement Awards.  The awards recognize the medical centers’ commitment to improving outcomes for patients with heart failure, reducing patient readmissions and providing more healthy days at home.

About 6.2 million adults in the United States are living with heart failure (HF).  Despite the name, HF doesn’t mean that the heart has stopped working – it means the heart is having a hard time pumping blood and oxygen throughout the body.  While there’s no cure for HF, patients can live a quality life by working with their health care team to create and stick with a plan that may include medication, symptom monitoring and lifestyle changes.

“I’m proud of our cardiovascular teams’ continuing dedication to providing the best care possible for heart failure patients,” said Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, CEO, Hackensack Meridian Health.  “Through their efforts our patients with HF can experience healthier and longer lives.”

Each year, program participants qualify for award recognition by demonstrating how their organization has committed to providing quality care for HF patients.  In addition to following treatment guidelines, Get With The Guidelines participants also provide education to patients to help them manage their heart failure at home.  There are six levels of achievement - Gold Plus, Gold, Silver Plus, Silver, Bronze and Participating.

Hackensack Meridian medical centers receiving quality achievement awards, include the following.

• Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, NJ, received the Get With The Guidelines®-Heart Failure GOLD PLUS Award and Target: Heart Failure & Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Rolls
• Ocean University Medical Center in Brick, NJ, received the Get With The Guidelines®-Heart Failure GOLD PLUS Award and Target: Heart Failure & Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Rolls
• Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, NJ, received the Get With The Guidelines®-Heart Failure GOLD PLUS Award and with Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll
• Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, NJ, received the Get With The Guidelines®-Heart Failure GOLD PLUS Award
• Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel, NJ, received the Get With The Guidelines®-Heart Failure GOLD PLUS Award
• Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin, NJ, received the Get With The Guidelines®-Heart Failure SILVER PLUS Award
• JFK University Medical Center in Edison, NJ, received the Get With The Guidelines®-Heart Failure BRONZE Award with Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll
  
  “We are pleased to recognize Hackensack Meridian Health’s leaders and teams for a strong commitment to caring for people with heart failure,” said Clyde W. Yancy, M.D., MSc, MACC, FAHA, MACP, FHFSA, national chairperson of the American Heart Association Heart Failure systems of care advisory group and chief, division of cardiology at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine. “Hospitals that participate in Get With The Guidelines quality improvement programs often see better patient outcomes, fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates – a win for health care systems, families and communities.”
  
  The American Heart Association’s recognition levels recognize the goal of treating patients with 85 percent or higher compliance to core standards of care outlined by the AHA over increasing lengths of time, culminating in two consecutive calendar years for Gold Plus. Hospitals receiving the Target: Heart Failure Honor Roll are required to meet specific criteria that improves medication adherence, provides early followup care and coordination and enhances patient education.  The goal is to further reduce hospital readmissions and help patients improve their quality of life in managing this chronic condition.  Hospitals receiving Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll, demonstrate that patients with Type 2 diabetes, who might be at higher risk for complications, receive the most up-to-date, evidence-based care when hospitalized due to heart disease. 
  
  For information about Hackensack Meridian Health’s cardiovascular services, visit hackensackmeridianhealth.org/en/Services/Heart-Care.  For a free physician referral, call 844-HMH-WELL.
  
  About Get With The Guidelines
  Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal of saving lives and hastening recovery, Get With The Guidelines has touched the lives of more than 12 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.