Aspirin on Discharge
Why is this important?
Aspirin thins the blood and helps to prevent platelets, (fragments of large bone marrow cells), from clumping together. For heart attack survivors, aspirin has been shown to improve the chances of survival six months after discharge from the hospital.
How WellSpan Compares
Last year, York Hospital and Gettysburg Hospital treated 750 patients with heart attack. The following shows the percentage of these patients who were given aspirin upon discharge from the hospital.
Unit of Measurement:
Percentage
A higher score is better than a lower score.
What we are doing to improve our performance.
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WellSpan has formed a special team, known as the “Heart Attack Clinical Effectiveness Team,” to work with doctors and nurses who care for heart attack patients at York Hospital and Gettysburg Hospital. Improvement steps include implementation of standardized forms which list essential medications and check boxes to indicate why medications were not administered/ordered.
It is WellSpan’s goal to provide aspirin to 100 percent of eligible patients when they are discharged.
WellSpan has closely reviewed and revised forms that doctors and nurses use and the procedures they follow to make sure that everyone who should receive an aspirin does receive an aspirin when they are discharged. WellSpan will continue to monitor the success of these changes and recommend other improvement steps as necessary. |
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