Get With The Guidelines- Coronary Artery Disease Annual Achievement Award recognizes excellence in secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease and primary prevention of stroke

Atlanta Medical Center recently received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines  - Coronary Artery Disease (GWTG-CAD) Annual Achievement Award. The award recognizes Atlanta Medical Center’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of cardiac care that effectively improves treatment of patients hospitalized with coronary artery disease. 

Under GWTG-CAD, patients are started on aggressive risk reduction therapies such as cholesterol-lowering drugs, aspirin, ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers in the hospital and receive smoking cessation and weight management counseling and referrals for cardiac rehabilitation before they are discharged. Hospitals that receive the award have demonstrated that at least 85 percent of its coronary patients (without contraindications) are discharged following the American Heart Association’s recommended treatments. 

“The American Heart Association applauds Atlanta Medical Center for its success in implementing the appropriate standards of care and protocols to reduce the number of recurrent events in coronary patients,” said Gray Ellrodt, M.D., the American Heart Association volunteer chairman for the national Get With The Guidelines (SM) project. “Atlanta Medical Center is well above the national average in terms of implementing these life-saving treatments.”

Projections have shown that implementation of cardiovascular disease secondary prevention guidelines nationwide, as promoted in the Get With The Guidelines (SM) program, could result in saving more than 80,000 lives each year.

“Atlanta Medical Center is dedicated to making our cardiac unit among the best in the country, and the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines (SM) program is helping us accomplish that by making it easier for our professionals to improve the long-term outcomes of our cardiac patients,” said William T. (Bill) Moore, chief executive officer of Atlanta Medical Center.  “We are pleased to be recognized for our dedication and achievements in cardiac care.”

The American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines (SM) program is designed to increase the use of and adherence to the association’s secondary prevention guidelines for coronary artery disease.  Developed to assist healthcare professionals follow proven standards and procedures before patients are discharged, GWTG-CAD can help Atlanta Medical Center reduce the risk of recurrent heart attacks and death in treated patients. The program, which works by mobilizing teams in acute care hospitals to implement American Heart Association / American College of Cardiology secondary prevention guidelines, was developed with support from an unrestricted educational grant from Merck & Co., Inc. 

According to the American Heart Association, more than 450,000 people suffer a recurrent heart attack each year.  Statistics also show that within one year of an attack, 25 percent of men and 38 percent of women will die.  Within six years after a heart attack, about 22 percent of men and 46 percent of women will be disabled with heart failure. 

The American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines (SM) program is being implemented in hospitals around the country.  For more information, visit americanheart.org/getwiththeguidelines.

ABOUT ATLANTA MEDICAL CENTER

Atlanta Medical Center, part of Tenet Georgia, is a 460-bed tertiary care hospital located at 303 Parkway Drive in Atlanta.  Atlanta Medical Center has been serving the medical needs of the community and region since its founding in 1901.  Specialties include advanced surgery, cardiology, neurology, oncology, women’s health, orthopedics, trauma and rehabilitation. The Level II trauma center is supported by aeromedical services providing immediate transportation to critical patients throughout the state. The hospital campus also includes a comprehensive cancer center, called the Specialty Clinic, which treats diabetes and Hepatitis C; Sheffield HealthCare, a neighborhood community health center; as well as the Wellness Center, which houses the Highland Athletic Club, Atlanta Weight Loss Center and outpatient rehabilitation program. Atlanta Medical Center is accredited by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the nation’s oldest and largest hospital accreditation agency.  To learn more about Atlanta Medical Center, visit www.atlantamedcenter.com.

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