Get With The Guidelines®

Quality improvement & registry programs to help hospitals accomplish more


Every hospital’s goal is to provide excellent patient care.


Continually evolving research can be hard to keep up with. 

That’s where Get With The Guidelines comes in.

  

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Closing the Gaps Between Evidence, Guidelines,  Implementation, and Equity

Get With The Guidelines is a proven in-hospital approach to improving patient outcomes across cardiovascular and stroke focus areas. Each Get With The Guidelines program promotes consistent adherence to the latest research-driven guidelines and measurement, while providing data and information to professionals for continual improvement in patient care. 

Did you know?

All Get With The Guidelines modules are associated with significant improvements in multiple processes of care strongly linked to improved outcomes. ref

Going Beyond Quality Improvement

When your hospital or health system participates in a Get With The Guidelines program, the impact can improve outcomes across the board.  

  • Improved Patient Outcomes: Following evidence-based guidelines decreases secondary events to save lives in your community.

  • Equitable Patient Care: Consistent, evidence-based treatments assure fewer care variations due to bias.

  • Staff Morale: When leveraged, measured goals can generate friendly competition and deliver positive reasons to celebrate.

  • Certification Opportunities: Programs provide the data foundation for a simplified hospital certification process through The Joint Commission.  

  • Accurate Reimbursement: Ensure your hospital is receiving proper reimbursement by recording accurate and improved metrics.

  • Return on Investment: Improved patient outcomes often lead to a reduction in readmission rates and length of stay, as well as impacting discharges to home, which can provide significant savings for hospitals.

  •  A Competitive Edge: Recognition awards and certification are powerful ways hospitals can differentiate in their markets and gain the attention of their community.

Did you know?

The Get With The Guidelines system is associated with improved efficiency of care and thus lower costs through decreases in hospital length of stay.

Plus, Get With The Guidelines hospitals demonstrate decreases in 30-day readmission rates compared to non-Get With The Guidelines hospitals. ref


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How it Works

Get With the Guidelines programs connect hospitals with current evidence-based guidelines and accurate measurement tools to improve care quality and industry practices. 

Measurement and Benchmarking

Understanding quality measurement is critical to improving patient care and making the certification process simple. Participating hospitals take their efforts a step further to ensure teams are using current guideline-directed treatments, setting industry-standard goals, and using peer benchmarks to compare performance.     

Quality Improvement Support

Each participating hospital and health system works with a Program Consultant to implement, interpret data, identify areas for improvement, and articulate recommendations internally.

It’s like having a consultant for your organization’s quality improvement objectives-- and a significant reason these programs are so successful.


Registry Tool and Industry Research

The Get With The Guidelines registry tool collects data from participating hospitals. This information allows healthcare leaders and researchers to examine trends and continue bringing current evidence-based guidance to bear across the industry.

From data to use & implementation, just like that!

Did you know?

More than 2,600 U.S. hospitals participate in at least one Get With The Guidelines program.  That means nearly 80% of the American population has access.

Plus, since the creation of the program, upwards of 13 Million U.S. patient records have been entered into the registry.  Learn about research opportunities using this data. 


Systemwide Improvement & Multi-site Comparison for Health Care Systems

For health systems with multiple sites, consistent measurement and quality improvement implementation can have a particularly big influence on patient care.
Through each Get With The Guidelines program, multisite systems—or super users—can compare treatment and  performance across multiple locations.

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Supporting Health Equity

Utilization of the Get With The Guidelines registries allows hospitals and healthcare systems to identify and address variations in care.(link opens in new window)(link opens in new window) Data is available to address the care continuum from pre-hospital care through hospitalization(link opens in new window)(link opens in new window) to assure all patients are receiving guideline-directed treatment. 

New Certification Requirements

Beginning in January 2023, The Joint Commission will implement new requirements to reduce health care disparities. Get With The Guidelines programs are turnkey solutions for hospitals to capture these data and begin changing outcomes.

Providing Quality Improvement Access in Rural Areas

The American Heart Association's Rural Health Care Outcomes Accelerator will provide up to 700 rural hospitals with no-cost access to add new Get With The Guidelines programs, as well as access to Program Consultants, and the Rural Community Network of hospitals.

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Did you know?

A decrease or elimination of disparities has been observed at Get With The Guidelines participating hospitals for several patient populations, including women, Hispanic, and Asian American people.ref

Get Recognized For Quality Achievements

Hospitals that participate actively and consistently in Get With The Guidelines programs are eligible for public recognition. Awards can be leveraged for PR and marketing opportunities, as well as recruiting and staff engagement. 

See Recognized Hospitals in US News & World Report
Get With The Guidelines Awards icons from Bronze to gold plus

Support from the Heart

Meet with a Program Consultant to understand which American Heart Association programs are right for your organization.