ST.VINCENT HEART CENTER OF INDIANA RECOGNIZED FOR IMPLEMENTING QUALITY CARDIAC AND STROKE CARE

 Carmel, IN — The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association are recognizing St.Vincent Heart Center of Indiana for its performance in treating cardiac and stroke patients using the association’s Get With The Guidelines^SM program.  St.Vincent Heart Center of Indiana joins 518 other hospitals being featured in an advertisement in the July 21^st “America’s Best Hospitals” issue of US News & World Report.

GWTG is a hospital based quality-improvement program designed to ensure that hospitals consistently care for cardiac and stroke patients following the most up-to-date guidelines and recommendations.  The program provides three modules that address coronary artery disease, heart failure and stroke.  Currently more than 1,450 hospitals use one or more GWTG modules.

 
Upon meeting each module’s criteria, hospitals are recognized if at least 85 percent of their cardiac or stroke patients are treated and discharged according to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s recommendations.  The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s advertisement recognizes St.Vincent Heart Center of Indiana’s commitment and success in performance achievement.

 “The American Heart Association is pleased to recognize its top Get With The Guidelines participants,” said Gregg C. Fonarow, M.D., national chairman, Get With The Guidelines steering committee and director, Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center.  “The program makes it easier for hospitals like St.Vincent Heart Center of Indiana to provide appropriate evidence-based care and ultimately improve the quality of life and help reduce the number of deaths in these heart and stroke patients.”

        
 “We are proud that the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association have chosen the ‘America’s Best Hospitals’ issue of US News & World Report to recognize St.Vincent Heart Center of Indiana for our achievements in their Get With The Guidelines program,” said John Stewart, CEO, St.Vincent Heart Center of Indiana..  “Get With The Guidelines gives our physicians and team members the tools and reports they need to effectively treat our coronary heart disease, heart failure and stroke patients.”

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About St.Vincent Heart Center of Indiana
St.Vincent Heart Center of Indiana (SVHCI) is an entire complex of facilities and medical specialists focused on providing advanced, specialized treatment of cardiovascular disease in a warm, comfortable and caring environment.  SVHCI was the first free-standing heart hospital in the Indianapolis metro area when it opened five and a half years ago, and is a joint venture between St.Vincent Health and the physicians and surgeons of The Care Group, LLC and CorVasc MD's P.C.  In addition to a state-of-the-art medical and surgical 80-bed hospital, SVHCI is home to a 24/7 Heart Emergency Unit, which has received a five-star rating from HealthGrades for 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.  SVHCI has also been recognized by HealthGrades as #1 in Indiana and in the top 5% of all hospitals in the U.S. for overall cardiac services for 2006, 2007 and 2008 and is a Thomson/Solucient Top 100 Hospital for Cardiovascular Services.

About GWTG:

Get With The Guidelines^SM (GWTG) 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.  Experience has shown that 80,000 lives could be saved annually if the coronary artery disease (GWTG-CAD) module alone was implemented nationwide.  For more information, visit americanheart.org/getwiththeguidelines.