Lake Pointe Medical Center has been awarded the Get With The Guidelines^SM Gold Performance Achievement Award in both coronary artery disease (CAD) and heart failure (HF). This recognition demonstrates Lake Pointe Medical Center’s commitment to achieving 85% or higher adherence in all performance measures applicable to CAD and HF patients for two or more years.  Currently more than 1,450 participate in the program.

      Get With The Guidelines^SM helps ensure that patients treated and discharged receive quality care in accordance with guidelines that will reduce the risk of secondary events. It takes advantage of the “teachable moment,” the time soon after an acute event, when patients are most likely to listen to their healthcare professionals’ treatment recommendations. Studies demonstrate that patients who are taught how to manage their risk factors while still in the hospital reduce their risk of a second heart attack.

      This commitment signifies that Lake Pointe Medical Center will use the program to comply with core standard levels of care outlined by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology secondary prevention guidelines and recommendations.

      Under the protocols, patients in the hospital are started on aggressive risk reduction therapies such as cholesterol-lowering drugs, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, aspirin, diuretics and anticoagulants. They also receive alcohol/drug use and thyroid management counseling and referrals for cardiac rehabilitation before being discharged.

      “The American Heart Association is pleased to recognize its top Get With The Guidelines^SM participants,” said Lee Schwamm, MD, national chair of the Get With The Guidelines^SM steering committee, associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and vice chair of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital.  “Healthcare providers who use Get With The Guidelines^SM 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,” Schwamm added.

            “Lake Pointe Medical Center maintains our dedication to making our care for heart disease patients among the best in the country. We will continue our use of this valuable program,” said Patty Sewalt, Director of Continuous Quality Improvement at Lake Pointe Medical Center. “Get With The Guidelines^SM makes it easier for our professionals to improve the long-term outcomes of our cardiac patients, and we are pleased to be recognized for our continued dedication to the program.”

      Since the initiation of the Get With The Guidelines^SM program at Lake Pointe Medical Center, the staff have developed and implemented acute and secondary prevention guideline processes. The program includes quality improvement measures such as care maps, discharge protocols, standing orders and measurement tools.  This quick and efficient use of guideline tools is designed to enable Lake Pointe Medical Center to improve the quality of care it provides heart disease patients, save lives, and ultimately reduce healthcare costs by lowering recurrence of events.

The coronary artery disease module of Get With The Guidelines^SM was developed with support from an unrestricted educational grant from the Merck/Schering-Plough Pharmaceutical Partnership. Glaxo Smith Kline, Inc. has provided support for Get With The Guidelines^SM -Heart Failure.

ABOUT LAKE POINTE MEDICAL CENTER 

Lake Pointe Medical Center is a 112-bed acute care hospital located at 6800 Scenic Drive in Rowlett.  Lake Pointe Medical Center has been serving the residents of Rockwall, Rowlett, Royse City and the surrounding communities since 1987.  The hospital provides a wide spectrum of medical services, including an emergency department with Fast Track services, a 14-bed intensive care unit, women's services, a Level II Neonatal Nursery, diagnostic imaging, eight operating rooms and telemetry.  With a medical staff of over 400 physicians, Lake Pointe Medical Center provides a number of specialty services, including cardiology and cardiac rehabilitation, vascular surgery, neurosurgery, neurology, orthopedics, gastroenterology, oncology, infectious disease, general surgery, spine surgery, thoracic surgery, ear nose and throat, pulmonary medicine, urology, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics and neonatal services.  Lake Pointe also offers wound care, sleep medicine, physical, occupational and speech therapy as well as pulmonary rehabilitation.  The Lake Pointe Urgent Care Center in Rockwall provides quick, convenient care for minor emergencies and illness.  The Lake Pointe Imaging Centers in Forney and Rockwall provide extended imaging services to the community.  In 2008, the hospital received two J.D. Powers And Associates Distinguished Hospital Program Awards, one for Emergency Service Excellence and a second for Outpatient Service Excellence.  The hospital was also ranked as the 28^th Best Value Hospital in the United States as part of Data Advantage’s Hospital Value Index^TM 100 Best Value Hospitals, the only facility in Texas to make the Top 100 list.  The hospital was also named a ‘Best Kept Secret’ Hospital by Data Advantage.  The hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the nation’s oldest and largest hospital accreditation agency, licensed by the state of Texas and certified for participation in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.  To learn more about Lake Pointe Medical Center, visit www.lakepointemedical.com.