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Get With The Guidelines-Stroke (GWTG-Stroke) offers four levels of hospital recognition:

1. Participating GWTG-Stroke Hospital
2. Bronze Achievement Award
3. Silver Achievement Award
4. Gold  Achievement Award
5. Silver Plus Quality Award
6. Gold Plus Quality Award 

Participating GWTG-Stroke Hospital
The first level of recognition designates awardees as an official Participating GWTG-Stroke Hospital. This level encourages program participation and entry of baseline data into the Patient Management Tool^TM*. View award release and permission form.

Achievement Awards
These awards recognize hospitals that demonstrate at least 85 percent compliance in each of the seven GWTG-Stroke Achievement Measures. The different levels reflect the amount of time for which the hospital demonstrates performance.

• Bronze recognizes performance of 90 consecutive days.
• Silver  recognizes performance of 12 consecutive months.
• Gold  recognizes performance of 24 consecutive months or more.

The Achievement Measures for GWTG-Stroke are embedded in the Patient Management Tool. They are:

• Percent of acute ischemic stroke patients who arrive at the ED at the hospital within 120 minutes (two hours) of onset of stroke symptoms who receive IV t-PA within 180 minutes (three hours) of onset of stroke symptoms
• Percent of ischemic stroke or TIA patients who receive antithrombotic medication within 48 hours of hospitalization
• Percent of ischemic stroke or TIA patients discharged on antithrombotics (e.g., warfarin, aspirin, other antiplatelet drug) 
• Percent of ischemic stroke or TIA patients with atrial fibrillation who are discharged on anticoagulation therapy (warfarin/Coumadin or heparin/heparinoids) unless an absolute or relative contraindication exist 
• Percent of patients at risk for DVT who received DVT prophylaxis by the second hospital day
• Percent of ischemic stroke or TIA patients with LDL > or = 100 mg/dL OR on cholesterol reducer prior to admission who are discharged on cholesterol-reducing drugs
• Percent of smokers who receive smoking cessation advice or medication (e.g., Nicoderm or Zyban) at discharge

To obtain an Achievement Award, a hospital must:

• Achieve Participating GWTG-Stroke Hospital status.
• Demonstrate compliance in the seven GWTG-Stroke Achievement Measures in at least 85 percent of all eligible patients. This must be documented in a written application, signed by a hospital representative and include the names of the hospital staff that collected the data.
• Application templates for Bronze, Silver, Gold, Silver Plus, and Gold Plus awards are available.
• Submit the application to the vice president or senior director of Quality Improvement Initiatives.
• Submit a signed application form indicating that all criteria have been met.

Please note:

• Baseline data is not to be included in the demonstrated time frame of adherence.
• Once a hospital has been recognized with a GWTG-Stroke Silver Achievement Award, it is no longer eligible for the GWTG-Stroke Bronze Achievement Award.
• Recognition criteria is subject to change based on program enhancements.

Seven key Achievement Measures are being used to evaluate and recognize success. These measures are consistent with those measures used by several organizations. However, all of the measures in GWTG are important in the care of patients.

Criteria and FAQs for the Silver and Gold Plus Quality Awards

* The Patient Management Tool^TM system provided by Outcome, Cambridge, Mass.