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TeamHealth Celebrates with Award Winning St. Mary
Medical Center
KNOXVILLE, Tenn., February 18, 2009 – TeamHealth, the nation’s largest provider of emergency medicine staffing and management services, congratulates client St. Mary Medical Center, Langhorne, Pennsylvania. The medical center was recently recognized by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association for implementing their “Get With the Guidelines” program for stroke, coronary artery disease, and heart failure. St. Mary received the Silver Performance Achievement Award for its excellence in stroke care and the Bronze Performance Achievement Awards for both coronary artery disease and heart failure. This level of achievement shows St. Mary’s commitment to adhering to the highest standards of care as it serves the community.
“Get With the Guidelines” helps ensure that treated and discharged patients receive quality care in accordance with guidelines designed to reduce the risk of secondary events. It takes advantage of the “teachable moment”—the time soon after a heart attack or stroke when patients are most likely to listen to their physicians’ treatment recommendations.
“I am very proud to have been a champion of the multidisciplinary team at St. Mary that allowed us to receive this recognition. TeamHealth and the hospital have worked together to create great programs for the highest quality patient care.” says Gary Zimmer, M.D., FACEP, ED medical director.
“We are honored to provide support to St. Mary Medical Center in this important endeavor. We share their vision to continuously find new ways to advance patient care.” says James George, M.D., J.D., FACEP, president, TeamHealth East.
This accomplishment signifies that St. Mary has reached an aggressive goal of treating stroke, coronary artery disease, and heart failure patients with 85 percent or higher compliance to the core standard levels of care outlined by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology secondary prevention guidelines and recommendations. The Silver Performance Achievement Award signifies that St. Mary has maintained this performance level for at least 12 consecutive months. To receive the Bronze Award in both coronary artery disease and heart failure, St. Mary maintained this level of compliance for a minimum of 90 consecutive days.
According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, each year approximately 700,000 people suffer a stroke, 300,000 people suffer a recurrent heart attack, and 5.2 million people suffer from heart failure. The “Get With the Guidelines” program is an efficient tool to help healthcare professionals improve the long-term outcomes of stroke and cardiac patients. The evidence-based protocols of the program ultimately save lives and reduce healthcare costs by lowering the recurrence of events.
About TeamHealth
Founded in 1979, TeamHealth is headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. TeamHealth is affiliated with approximately 6,200 healthcare professionals who provide emergency medicine, hospital medicine, radiology, teleradiology, urgent care, and pediatric staffing and management services to approximately 550 civilian and military hospitals, clinics, and physician groups in 44 states. For more information about TeamHealth, call 800.818.1498.
About St. Mary Medical Center
Located in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, St. Mary Medical Center’s compassionate staff of more than 600 physicians, 2,400 colleagues, and 700 volunteers is committed to providing excellence in patient safety and quality care. St. Mary offers state-of-the-art technology and highly skilled physicians and clinical professionals to provide advanced care for complex cases. Services include a comprehensive cardiovascular program; emergency services with a dedicated pediatric emergency care center; and a Joint Commission-certified primary stroke center.