The UAB Cardiovascular Institute (CVI) has been honored with the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines – Heart Failure Gold Plus award, recognizing its commitment to enhancing care and outcomes for heart failure patients. The award highlights UAB Medicine’s adherence to research-based guidelines aimed at improving patient care and reducing hospital readmissions.
Heart failure, a condition where the heart struggles to meet the body’s demands, affects an estimated 6.7 million adults in the U.S., with numbers expected to exceed 8 million by 2030. While incurable, heart failure can be managed through medication, lifestyle changes, and close collaboration with healthcare providers.
To achieve the Gold Plus award, UAB CVI implemented a comprehensive plan across various medical specialties, fully embracing the Get With The Guidelines program. Dr. Vera Bittner, section chief of General Cardiology and medical director of the Interventional Cardiovascular Unit at UAB Medicine, emphasized the collaborative effort. “We knew that American Heart Association guideline-directed medical therapy correlates with better outcomes for our patients, so every group of clinicians involved in these patients’ care went the extra mile,” Dr. Bittner said…