St. Luke’s recognized for stroke, heart failure treatments

St. Luke's Hospital recently received two prestigious designations from The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association (AHA)/American Stroke Association (ASA).

St. Luke's has been designated as a Primary Stroke Center and Heart Failure Certified. St. Luke's is the only Iowa hospital to receive the Heart Failure certification and one of ten hospitals statewide awarded the Primary Stroke Center designation.

This is the first year for an enhanced alliance between The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, which was originally formed in 2003, to help organizations provide more comprehensive and appropriate care for patients at Certified Primary Stroke Centers and Heart Failure Programs nationwide.

This enhanced alliance combines the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's scientific expertise with The Joint Commission's 60 years of experience in evaluating the quality and safety of care in healthcare organizations. This alliance was created to better educate patients about hospitals providing the “next generation of stroke or heart failure care.” Benefits of the enhanced alliance include:

• Patients can easily recognize the hospitals providing state-of-the-art stroke and heart failure care.
• One destination for sharing stroke and heart failure care information with a clearinghouse of tools and best practices.
• A coordinated set of support services that facilitate the provision of excellent primary stroke and heart failure care through online virtual networking.
• Future integration of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines and The Joint Commission's Certification Measure Information Process (CMIP) measurement system.
• Trend reports that give Joint Commission certified Primary Stroke Centers and organizations with Advanced Certification in Heart Failure the ability to view their program's performance on stroke and heart failure standardized measures.
• Increased recognition by the public of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association and The Joint Commission's Certified Primary Stroke Centers and Heart Failure Programs.

“Our staff is dedicated to providing the best care for stroke and heart failure patients in the country,” said Peg Bradke, St. Luke's Heart Care Services director. “Receiving these certifications is proof our hard work is paying off.”