Tools help hospitals tackle atrial fibrillation

The American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association have opened enrollment for Get With The Guidelines-AFIB.

The program is designed to assist hospitals in the care of patients with atrial fibrillation. It includes clinical tools and resources for developing treatment plans; patient management and patient education tools; performance comparisons with hospitals and data-driven peer review; and professional education opportunities.

“Better control of atrial fibrillation is likely to reduce readmission for heart failure patients,” said William R. Lewis, MD, chair of the Get With The Guidelines-AFIB work group and chief of clinical cardiology for MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, in a release. “Get With The Guidelines has been shown to reduce the cost of treating patients with stroke and heart failure, as well as to improve adherence to anticoagulation guidelines in the stroke module.”

Get With The Guidelines is a national hospital-based quality improvement program for cardiovascular disease, including stroke and heart failure, and resuscitation. More than 42 percent of U.S. hospitals participate in the association’s quality of care programs. They now have a database of nearly 5.5 million patient records, according to the associations.

The Get With The Guidelines-Atrial Fibrillation program is funded by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals. It is available here.

Candace Stuart, Contributor

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