Osceola Regional Medical Center and its Heart and Vascular Institute Heart Failure Clinic have received the Get With The Guidelines® (GWTG) - Heart Failure Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Foundation's secondary prevention guidelines for patients with heart failure.

The hospital's Heart Failure Clinic has been also recognized by the US News & World Report 2016-2017 for high performing ratings. Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure is a quality improvement program that helps hospital teams follow the most up-to-date, research-based standards with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing hospital readmissions for heart failure patients.

Numerous published studies have demonstrated the program's success in achieving patient outcome improvements, including reductions in 30-day readmissions. Osceola Regional Medical Center earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure patients.

These measures include evaluation of the patient, proper use of medications and aggressive risk-reduction therapies, such as ACE inhibitors/ARBs, beta-blockers, diuretics, anticoagulants, and other appropriate therapies. Before patients are discharged, they also receive education on managing their heart failure and overall health, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions. "Osceola Regional's Heart and Vascular Institute continues to focus on improving the quality of care for our heart-failure patients," said Osceola Regional Medical Center CEO Davide Carbone. "And thanks to our implementation of the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure program, we are able to accomplish this goal by tracking and measuring our success in meeting internationally respected guidelines."