Piedmont Earns National Recognition for Efforts to Improve Cardiovascular Treatment

The American Heart Association presents multiple Achievement Awards for implementation of quality care for patients

ATLANTA (JULY 28, 2022)— Piedmont has earned 17 American Heart Association Achievement Awards for implementing quality improvement measures that ensure cardiovascular patients receive efficient and coordinated care, ultimately leading to more lives saved, shorter recovery times and fewer returns to the hospital.

Nearly half of all adults in the United States have experienced some form of cardiovascular disease – including heart attack, stroke and heart failure. For patients with conditions that are severe enough to be transported or admitted to a hospital, time is critical.

The American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline and Get With The Guidelines programs help reduce barriers to prompt treatment for cardiovascular events. As a participant in Mission: Lifeline and Get With The Guidelines programs, Piedmont hospitals applied for the award recognitions by demonstrating how the organization has committed to improving quality care for patients.

“Piedmont is committed to improving care by adhering to the latest treatment guidelines and streamlining processes to ensure timely and proper care for heart attacks and strokes,” said Charles L. Brown, M.D., CEO of Piedmont Physician’s Enterprise. “The Mission: Lifeline and Get With The Guidelines programs make it easier for our teams to put proven knowledge and guidelines to work on a daily basis, which helps us ensure more people in Georgia experience longer, healthier lives.”

This year, Piedmont hospitals received the following Achievement Awards:

·         Get With The Guidelines Stroke: GOLD PLUS with Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus and Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll

o    Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center

o    Piedmont Henry Hospital

·         Get With The Guidelines Stroke: GOLD PLUS with Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus, Advanced Therapy and Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll

o    Piedmont Atlanta Hospital

·         Get With The Guidelines Stroke: GOLD PLUS with Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite and Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll

o    Piedmont Augusta Hospital

o    Piedmont Cartersville Medical Center

o    Piedmont Eastside Medical Center

o    Piedmont Fayette Hospital

o    Piedmont Newnan Hospital

o    Piedmont Newton Hospital

o    Piedmont Rockdale Hospital

o    Piedmont Walton Hospital

·         Get With The Guidelines Heart Failure GOLD PLUS with Target: Heart Failure Honor Roll and Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll

o    Piedmont Augusta Hospital

·         Get With The Guidelines- Stroke GOLD PLUS with Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll

o    Piedmont Mountainside Hospital

·         Get With The Guidelines Heart Failure: Gold Plus

o    Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center

·         Mission Lifelife: STEMI: Gold Plus Receiving

o    Piedmont Macon Medical Center

·         Mission Lifeline: NSTEMI: Gold

o    Piedmont Macon Medical Center

“We are pleased to recognize Piedmont for its commitment to caring for those in their community who need cardiovascular care,” said John Warner, M.D., FAHA, past president of the American Heart Association and executive vice president for health system affairs at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. “Hospitals that follow the American Heart Association’s quality improvement protocols often see improved patient outcomes, fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates – a win for health care systems, families and communities.”

###

About Piedmont

Piedmont is empowering Georgians by changing health care. We continue to fuel Georgia’s growth through safe, high-quality care close to home – an integrated health care system that provides a hassle-free, unified experience. Every year, we have over 30 million visits to Piedmont.org, more than 450,000 appointments scheduled online by patients and over 100,000 virtual visits. We are a private, not-for-profit organization that for centuries has lived up to our purpose to make a positive difference in every life we touch in the communities we serve. Today Piedmont has more than 31,000 employees caring for 3.4 million patients across 1,400 locations and serving communities that comprise 80 percent of Georgia’s population. This includes 22 hospitals, including three inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, 55 Piedmont Urgent Care centers, 25 QuickCare locations, 1,875 Piedmont Clinic physician practices and more than 2,800 Piedmont Clinic members. Piedmont has provided $1.4 billion in uncompensated care and community benefit programming to the communities we serve over the past five years. In 2022, Forbes ranked us No. 166 on its list of the Best Large Employers in the United States. In 2021, the Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit that rates hospitals on safety, awarded Piedmont more A grades than any system in Georgia. For more information, or to book your next appointment, visit piedmont.org.  

About Mission: Lifeline

The American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline program helps hospitals and emergency medical services develop systems of care that follow proven standards and procedures for STEMI patients. The program works by mobilizing teams across the continuum of care to implement American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Foundation clinical treatment guidelines.  For more information, visit heart.org.

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 9 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.