Get With The Guidelines®-Heart Failure Recognition Program
Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure (GWTG-HF) offers six levels of hospital recognition:
- Participating Get With The Guidelines-HF Hospital
- Bronze Achievement Award
- Silver Achievement Award
- Gold Achievement Award
- Silver Plus Quality Award
- Gold Plus Quality Award
Participating Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure Hospital
The first level of recognition designates awardees as an official Participating Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure Hospital. This level encourages program participation and entry of baseline data into the Patient Management ToolTM*. View Get With The Guidelines-HF Participating Hospital application and award permission form.
Achievement Awards
The awards recognize hospitals that demonstrate at least 85 percent compliance in each of the five Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure 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 Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure are embedded in the Patient Management Tool. They are:
- HF discharge instructions provided for all eligible patients
- Measurement of LV function in all eligible patients
- ACE inhibitor and/or ARB at discharge provided to eligible patients with LVEF < or = 0.40, in absence of documented contraindications or intolerance
- Beta blocker at discharge provided to eligible patients with LVEF < or = 0.40, in absence of documented contraindications or intolerance
- Smoking cessation counseling provided to all eligible patients (current or recent smokers)
To obtain an Achievement Award, a hospital must:
- Achieve Participating Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure Hospital status.
- Demonstrate compliance in the five Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure 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 who collected the data.
- Application templates are available for Bronze, Silver, Gold, Silver Plus and Gold Plus Achievement Awards. Plus Awards FAQs 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 period of adherence.
- Once a hospital has been recognized with a Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure Silver Achievement Award, it is no longer eligible for the Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure Bronze Performance Award.
- Recognition criteria is subject to change based on program enhancements.
These applications will likely be the basis for poster or oral best practice presentations at local, regional or national Get With The Guidelines events, including CME/CE/CPHQ activities, celebrations and other appropriate meetings.
Five Achievement Measures are 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.
* The Patient Management ToolTM system provided by Outcome, Cambridge, Mass.
