St. Jude Medical Foundation's $1 million grant to American Heart Association showing first quarter results in local heart failure treatment

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Dec 13, 2016, 07:00 ET

MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 13, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Impressive results are coming in for St. Jude Medical Foundation's $1 million two-year grant to address heart failure in Minnesota.

The two-year pilot initiative aimed to put the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines – Heart Failure program in 12 Minnesota hospitals and seven Texas hospitals, is seeing significant quality improvements in the first quarter reports.

Six-month quality improvement measures:

Over 2,400 Minnesota patients with heart failure have been impacted
Six Twin Cities hospitals have earned Achievement Awards
Patients prescribed evidence-based beta blockers at discharge: improved from 78 percent to 92 percent
Patients who received follow-up appointments: improved from 44 percent to 88 percent
Patients with heart pumping ejection fraction less than 35 percent were counseled on or had an implantable device prescribed at discharge: improved from 50 percent to 80 percent

"We are inspired by the positive results we are seeing so far by this pilot partnership," said Barbara Ducharme, executive director of the American Heart Association's office in Minneapolis. "St. Jude Medical Foundation's support is helping heart failure patients here in Minnesota to live longer, better quality lives with fewer hospital stays."

Heart failure effects nearly 6 million Americans, costs the nation over $30 billion annually, and accounts for about 11,000 hospitalizations in Minnesota each year, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. Get With The Guidelines – Heart Failure is an in-hospital quality improvement program that provides clinical tools, patient education resources, and quality improvement data analysis promoting consistent adherence to the latest scientific treatment guidelines to improve patient care and outcomes.

"St. Jude Medical is pioneering heart failure disease management and is proud to support impactful programs like Get With the Guidelines. We are committed to collaborating with heart failure specialists, clinicians and advocacy partners to provide innovative, cost-effective solutions that help reduce hospitalizations and improve patients' quality of life," said Rachel Ellingson, president of St. Jude Medical Foundation and vice president of corporate strategy at St. Jude Medical.

Participating Minnesota hospitals and Achievement Awards, to date:

Fairview Southdale Hospital - Gold Plus
University of Minnesota Heart Care at Fairview Ridges Hospital - Gold Plus Target Honor Roll
University of Minnesota Medical Center - Gold Plus Target Honor Roll
Hennepin County Medical Center - Bronze
Fairview Lakes Hospital - Participating
Fairview Northland Hospital - Participating
Fairview Range Hospital - Participating
Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital - Participating
Regions Hospital - Participating
St John's Hospital HealthEast Care System - Participating
St Joseph's Hospital HealthEast Care System - Participating
Woodwinds Health Campus - Participating

For more information about the program, visit heart.org/QualityHF.

About the American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is the nation's oldest and largest voluntary health organization dedicated to build healthier lives by fighting heart disease and stroke – two of America's leading killers. We fund cutting-edge research, conduct lifesaving public and professional educational programs, and advocate to protect public health. To learn more, call 1-800-AHA-USA1 or visit heart.org.

About St. Jude Medical Foundation
St. Jude Medical Foundation is the philanthropic arm of St. Jude Medical and supports programs related to cardiac and neurological diseases in the areas of education, patient support and healthy communities. Headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., St. Jude Medical is a global medical device manufacturer dedicated to transforming the treatment of some of the world's most expensive epidemic diseases by developing cost-effective medical technologies that save and improve lives of patients around the world. For more information, visit sjm.com or follow us on Twitter @StJudeMedical.

SOURCE American Heart Association