Carle Foundation Hospital is being recognized with the A.Fib GWTG Gold Award 2023 from the American Heart Association (AHA) as part of their Get With The Guidelines® program. This program awards hospital care teams that consistently provide the latest evidence-based treatment for patients with A.Fib, or atrial fibrillation.
A.Fib, an irregular and often rapid heart rhythm, impacts between 2.7 and 6.1 million people in the United States. Without treatment, A.Fib can lead to other heart conditions like blood clotting and increases the risk of stroke.
“We’ve been working to achieve this level of award for two years,” said Mbu Mongwa, MD. “This is one of the fastest times possible to achieve the gold award.”
Dr. Mongwa is an electrophysiology physician at Carle Health. He performs atrial fibrillation ablations and left atrial appendage occlusion device procedures for patients with A.Fib who aren’t able to take anticoagulation medication due to a high risk of bleeding.
The AHA awards the gold level of award to medical facilities who meet the organization’s guidelines for atrial fibrillation care. The gold level of this award recognizes those who have met these guidelines for at least 24 consecutive months.
“Carle Foundation Hospital qualified for the Gold Award by meeting the criteria set by the American Heart Association for the Get With The Guidelines Atrial Fibrillation Registry,” said Joy Feller, Cardio-Vascular Database Abstractor with Carle Health.
The AHA’s criteria for this award is the 6 Achievement measurements. They assess the following:
Providers evaluate patients’ risk factors according to the CHA2DS2-VASc Risk score, as well as their age and gender.
These risk factors include:
To achieve this recognition, clinicians and team members from Carle Foundation Hospital Heart and Vascular Institute worked together to find opportunities to improve.
“We had to look for any weak spots in the management of our patients via detailed chart reviews,” said Dr. Mongwa. “We searched for possible shortcomings and moved to amend those and meet the AHA’s guideline categories at a high level.”
And while excellence for every patient is always the goal, the AHA guidelines set a standardized approach to ensure optimal outcomes.
“Patients should understand that we are providing them care of the highest order that meets the standards of the AHA,” Dr. Mongwa said. “And that we’ve done so for the past two years. Our long term goal is to continue delivering excellent, state of the art care to our patients.”
“Carle Foundation Hospital monitors certain process and outcome measures to help ensure patients receive high quality patient care,” said Jamie Holley, Director - Service Line Accreditation. “Patients with A.Fib are included in certain case reviews where opportunities for care are determined and action items are developed as needed.”
For more information, visit Carle.org.
A.Fib, an irregular and often rapid heart rhythm, impacts between 2.7 and 6.1 million people in the United States. Without treatment, A.Fib can lead to other heart conditions like blood clotting and increases the risk of stroke.
“We’ve been working to achieve this level of award for two years,” said Mbu Mongwa, MD. “This is one of the fastest times possible to achieve the gold award.”
Dr. Mongwa is an electrophysiology physician at Carle Health. He performs atrial fibrillation ablations and left atrial appendage occlusion device procedures for patients with A.Fib who aren’t able to take anticoagulation medication due to a high risk of bleeding.
The AHA awards the gold level of award to medical facilities who meet the organization’s guidelines for atrial fibrillation care. The gold level of this award recognizes those who have met these guidelines for at least 24 consecutive months.
“Carle Foundation Hospital qualified for the Gold Award by meeting the criteria set by the American Heart Association for the Get With The Guidelines Atrial Fibrillation Registry,” said Joy Feller, Cardio-Vascular Database Abstractor with Carle Health.
The AHA’s criteria for this award is the 6 Achievement measurements. They assess the following:
- CHA2DS2-VASc Risk Score documented before discharge
- FDA approved anticoagulation prescribed
- ACE/ARB or ARNI
- Beta Blocker
- Statin prescribed according to criteria for each patient
- PT/INR planned follow-up for patients discharged on Warfarin treatment
Providers evaluate patients’ risk factors according to the CHA2DS2-VASc Risk score, as well as their age and gender.
These risk factors include:
- Heart Failure
- Hypertension
- Diabetes Mellitus
- Stroke
- Transient Ischemic Attack
- Thromboembolic event and Vascular disease such as prior MI
- Coronary Artery Disease
- Percutaneous Coronary Intervention
- Peripheral Vascular disease
- Carotid disease
- Coronary Artery Bypass Graft
To achieve this recognition, clinicians and team members from Carle Foundation Hospital Heart and Vascular Institute worked together to find opportunities to improve.
“We had to look for any weak spots in the management of our patients via detailed chart reviews,” said Dr. Mongwa. “We searched for possible shortcomings and moved to amend those and meet the AHA’s guideline categories at a high level.”
And while excellence for every patient is always the goal, the AHA guidelines set a standardized approach to ensure optimal outcomes.
“Patients should understand that we are providing them care of the highest order that meets the standards of the AHA,” Dr. Mongwa said. “And that we’ve done so for the past two years. Our long term goal is to continue delivering excellent, state of the art care to our patients.”
“Carle Foundation Hospital monitors certain process and outcome measures to help ensure patients receive high quality patient care,” said Jamie Holley, Director - Service Line Accreditation. “Patients with A.Fib are included in certain case reviews where opportunities for care are determined and action items are developed as needed.”
For more information, visit Carle.org.
Categories: Community
Tags: Afib, American, Association, Award, Carle Foundation Hospital, Champaign-Urbana, Heart, Recognition