For meeting nationally recognized patient-care standards from the American Heart Association, the heart failure program at the University of Virginia Health System has earned a pair of national quality awards.
UVA received Gold Plus and Target: Heart Failure recognition from the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure®program.
“I am pleased to see the hard work of our comprehensive heart failure team honored with these awards,” said Craig Thomas, MSN, RN, ACNP, CHFN, a nurse practitioner on the heart failure team. “Our team is focused on high-quality care that meets the individual needs of each patient to help them successfully manage this difficult condition.”
UVA met several evidence-based standards to receive these awards, including:
- Prescribing appropriate medications to help patients manage their heart failure by lowering blood pressure and improving the heart’s ability to pump blood.
- Prescribing blood thinners to reduce the risk of stroke for patients with heart failure and heart-rhythm disorders such as atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter.
- Providing flu and pneumonia vaccinations.
- Scheduling a follow-up visit within seven days.
- Providing treatments to help prevent clots inside blood vessels.
The specialized heart failure care team at UVA includes cardiologists, heart surgeons, nurse practitioners, nurses, therapists and pharmacists. They provide the full range of care for patients based on their specific condition, which can include diet and lifestyle changes, medication management, devices that help the heart function more effectively as well as heart transplants for select patients.
“These awards from the American Heart Association reflect the daily focus of our heart failure team on providing excellent, patient-centered care,” said Pamela M. Sutton-Wallace, chief executive officer of UVA Medical Center.
