SEATTLE — (May 24, 2017) — The Virginia Mason Heart Institute has received the Get With The Guidelines^®-Heart Failure Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award for implementing improvement measures for treating heart failure patients as recommended by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Foundation.

Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure program helps hospital teams follow the most up-to-date, research-based standards with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing hospital readmissions. Launched in 2005, numerous published studies have demonstrated the program’s success in achieving patient outcome improvements, including reductions in 30-day readmissions.

Virginia Mason earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for diagnosis and treatment. These measures include evaluation of the patient, proper use of medications and aggressive risk-reduction therapies, such as ACE inhibitors/ARBs, beta-blockers, diuretics, anticoagulants, and other appropriate therapies. Before patients are discharged, they receive education for managing their heart failure and overall health, get a follow-up visit scheduled and have other care transition interventions arranged as needed.

“We are dedicated to providing the highest quality care for our heart failure patients,” said Anne Casey, administrative director, Virginia Mason Heart Institute. “This award recognizes the commitment by our teams and their success in following evidence-based protocols that represent the gold standard of care.”

According to the American Heart Association, about 5.7 million adults in the United States suffer from heart failure, with the number expected to rise to 8 million by 2030. Statistics show that each year about 870,000 new cases are diagnosed and about 50 percent of those diagnosed will die within five years. However, many heart failure patients can lead a full, enjoyable life when their condition is managed with proper medications or devices and with healthy lifestyle changes.

“We are pleased to recognize Virginia Mason for their commitment to heart failure care,” said Paul Heidenreich, MD, MS, national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and professor of medicine at Stanford University. “Research has shown there are benefits to patients who are treated at hospitals that have adopted the Get With The Guidelines program. Get With the Guidelines research has demonstrated the impact of lowering 30-day readmissions and reducing mortality rates.”

About Virginia Mason Health System
Virginia Mason, founded in 1920, is a nonprofit regional health care system based in Seattle that serves the Pacific Northwest. In the Puget Sound region, the system includes 336-bed Virginia Mason Hospital; a primary and specialty care group practice of more than 500 physicians; regional medical centers in Seattle, Bainbridge Island, Bellevue, Federal Way, Kirkland, Issaquah and Lynnwood; Bailey-Boushay House, the first skilled-nursing and outpatient chronic care management program in the United States designed specifically to meet the needs of people with HIV/AIDS; Benaroya Research Institute, which is internationally recognized for autoimmune disease research; and Virginia Mason Institute, which trains health care professionals and others from around the world in the Virginia Mason Production System, an innovative management methodology for continually improving quality, safety and efficiency.

Virginia Mason Health System also includes Virginia Mason Memorial, a 226-bed hospital serving the Yakima Valley in central Washington since 1950.

Media Contact:
Gale Robinette
Media Relations Manager
Virginia Mason Health System
(206) 341-1509
gale.robinette@VirginiaMason.org