Cheyenne Regional Medical Center Receives Three Gold-Plus Quality Awards from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association

September 14, 2020

Cheyenne, WY—The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA) has presented Cheyenne Regional Medical Center (CRMC) with three 2020 Get With The Guidelines^® Gold Plus Awards for the hospital’s treatment of stroke and heart failure patients and adult patients suffering an in-hospital cardiac arrest.

According to the AHA/ASA, Gold Plus-level awards are given to an “elite group of hospitals” for their “commitment to guideline adherence and quality improvement” for the heart failure and stroke populations and for adult patients suffering cardiac arrest.

“I’d like to thank the physicians, advanced practiced providers, nurses, dietitians, therapists, technicians and other employees who have worked so hard over the years to implement and follow the heart failure, stroke and resuscitation protocols established by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association,” said Cheyenne Regional Health System President and CEO Tim Thornell.

“This ongoing commitment ensures that our patients are receiving the kind of nationally recognized, research-based care that results in saved lives, quicker recoveries, fewer hospital readmissions and improved quality of life, right here in Cheyenne,” Thornell said.

CRMC was also recognized with Honor Roll Achievement Awards for treating heart failure and stroke patients who have type 2 diabetes. These recognitions highlight a hospital’s efforts to help their heart failure and stroke patient populations with type 2 diabetes better manage their conditions.

“We are pleased to recognize Cheyenne Regional Medical Center for its commitment to stroke and heart failure care and for following the resuscitation guidelines,” said Lee H. Schwamm, MD, national chairperson of the Quality Oversight Committee and Executive Vice Chair of Neurology, Director of Acute Stroke Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA. “Research has shown that hospitals adhering to clinical measures through the Get With The Guidelines quality improvement initiative can often see fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates. Shortening the time to effective resuscitation and maximizing post-resuscitation care is also critical to patient survival.”

In its announcements about the awards, the AHA/ASA thanked CRMC for “applying the most up-to-date evidence-based treatment guidelines to improve patient care and outcomes in the community you serve.”

Stroke Award
Quality measures that stroke gold plus hospitals must meet include the proper use of medications and other stroke treatments aligned with the most up-to-date guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. Before being discharged from the hospital, stroke patients must also be asked to receive education on managing their health, receive transition interventions and be scheduled for a follow-up visit with their healthcare provider.

“Cheyenne Regional Medical Center understands the vital importance of providing high-quality, evidence-based care to our stroke patients and is committed to implementing this level of care,” said Dr. Tracie Caller, a neurologist and the medical director of CRMC’s stroke program. “Adhering to Get With the Guidelines is one of the ways we ensure our stroke treatment protocols save lives and help improve outcomes and recovery for our patients.”

This is the third year in a row that CRMC has received a gold-plus quality award for the treatment of stroke patients from the AHA/ASA.

Stroke is the fifth-leading cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States, according to the AHA/ASA. On average, someone in the United States suffers a stroke every 40 seconds, and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

Heart Failure Award
CRMC earned the heart failure gold plus award by meeting specific quality measures for the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure patients. These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and aggressive risk-reduction therapies. Before leaving the hospital, patients are also asked to receive education on managing their heart failure condition and overall health, are presented with transition interventions and are scheduled for a follow-up visit with their healthcare provider.

“CRMC is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our patients with heart failure,” said Amanda Diefenderfer, a physician assistant with Cheyenne Cardiology Associates, a Cheyenne Regional Medical Group clinic. “The tools and resources provided by the Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure initiative help us track and measure our success in meeting evidence-based clinical guidelines developed to improve patient outcomes.”

According to the AHA, more than 6.5 million adults in the United States are living with heart failure. Many heart failure patients can lead a full life when their condition is managed with proper medications or devices and by leading a healthy lifestyle.

This is the second year in a row that CRMC has received the gold plus quality award for heart failure care from the AHA/ASA.

Resuscitation Award
To receive the gold plus adult resuscitation award, CRMC had to meet specific AHA measures for treating in-hospital adult cardiac arrests for one year.

“This award is a significant achievement for CRMC and demonstrates our dedication to improving outcomes for our patients,” said Minh Ho, chair of CRMC’s interdisciplinary Code Blue Committee. “We were able to earn this award because of the excellent work from all of our staff that responds to a code blue event, our data management team and the Code Blue Committee.

 More than 200,000 adults and children have an in-hospital cardiac arrest each year, according to the AHA. The Get With The Guidelines-Resuscitation program was developed with the goal of saving the lives of those who experience in-hospital cardiac arrests through consistently following protocols for patient safety, medical emergency team response, effective and timely cardiopulmonary resuscitation and post-resuscitation care.

Get With The Guidelines-Resuscitation builds on the work of the AHA’s National Registry of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, which was originally launched in 1999 and has collected in-hospital cardiac arrest data from more than 500 hospitals. Data from the registry and the quality program give participating hospitals feedback on their resuscitation practices and patient outcomes.

In 2019 CRMC received the AHA/ASA’s silver-level adult resuscitation award.

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 goals of saving lives and hastening recovery, Get With The Guidelines has touched the lives of more than 9 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org/en/professional/quality-improvement.