American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline Awards
At New Hanover Regional Medical Center, we strive to continually find ways of cutting heart attack treatment times to give patients the best chance at a full recovery. The Code STEMI program is at the center of this mission. STEMI stands for ST Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction. "Myocardial infarction," or MI, is the clinical term for heart attacks.
NHRMC Heart Center works in collaboration with hospitals and paramedics around the region to perform EKGs, recognize a STEMI and immediately activate the Code STEMI protocol. By doing so, they set in motion a series of steps at NHRMC. Cardiac and Emergency teams are activated, the catheterization labs are prepared, and the equipment is ready for the patient to be moved to treatment on arrival.
Recognition Criteria
NHRMC received the AHA Mission: Lifeline Gold Award by:
- Achieving 85 percent or greater composite score on quality measures, ranging from treatment times to discharge protocol
- Having no single measure below 75 percent on the achievement measures
- Maintaining that standard for two consecutive years
NHRMC received the AHA Mission: Silver NSTEMI Award, the first year of the award and highest level given, by:
- Achieving specific criteria and standards at a set level for 12 consecutive months
American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline EMS Gold Plus Award
NHRMC's Emergency Medical Services and AirLink VitaLink Critical Care Transport teams received the award for implementing quality improvement measures for the treatment of patients who 
experience severe heart attacks. For the third time, NHRMC EMS and Airlink VitaLink Critical Care Transport teams received the highest Mission: Lifeline award possible.
Recognition Criteria
- NHRMC’s medical contact to artery open time was 74 minutes - less than the national standard median time of 90 minutes
- NHRMC averaged 90 minutes for patients transferred from a referring hospital for medical contact to artery open time - less than the national median time of 120 minutes
New Hanover Regional Medical Center has achieved the Healthgrades 2018 Outstanding Patient Experience Award. This distinction recognizes NHRMC among the top 15 percent of hospitals nationwide.
Hospitals were chosen based on evaluation of patient experience measures, using data from surveys submitted to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). In order to be recognized by Healthgrades, hospitals must meet eligibility requirements for consideration, which includes clinical performance thresholds in addition to a minimum of 100 survey responses.
NHRMC's Stroke Program received the Get With The Guidelines Gold Plus Achievement Award in 2018 and was recognized on the Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus, two quality recognitions presented by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association.
To receive the Gold Plus Achievement Award, hospitals must:
- Treat stroke patients with 85 percent or higher compliance to core standard levels of care for two or more consecutive 12-month periods
- Achieve 75 percent or higher compliance in 5 out of 8 quality measures
The standards measure:
- Treating a patient quickly, appropriately and thoroughly
- Scheduling followup therapies at discharge
- Prescribing appropriate medication
- Suggesting preventive measures
NHRMC's composite score for all measures was 98.5 percent.
Stroke Honor Roll
To earn Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus recognition, hospitals must achieve time to intravenous thrombolytic therapy, or door-to-needle time, of 60 minutes or less in 75 percent of stroke patients and door-to-needle time of 45 minutes or less in 50 percent of stroke patients. The IV therapy will break up a clot, which is depriving oxygen to part of the brain. Fast action can limit the damage caused by a stroke.
NHRMC's median door-to-needle time is 34 minutes.
New Hanover Regional Medical Center has achieved five stars from Healthgrades in stroke care.
This achievement is part of new findings and data released by Healthgrades, an online resource for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals, and featured in the Healthgrades 2018 Report to the Nation. Every year, Healthgrades evaluates hospital performance at nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide for 34 of the most common inpatient procedures and conditions.
New Hanover Regional Medical Center has been awarded an ‘A’ from The Leapfrog Group’s Fall 2018 Hospital Safety Grade.
The designation recognizes NHRMC’s efforts in protecting patients from harm and meeting the highest safety standards in the United States.
In 2018, New Hanover Regional Medical Center was granted a three-year accreditation to the cancer program from the American College of Surgeons. The Comission on Cancer recognizes organizations that are dedicated to improving patient outcomes and quality of life for cancer patients through standard-setting, prevention, research, education, and the monitoring of comprehensive, quality care.
To earn voluntary CoC accreditation, New Hanover Regional Medical Center met 34 quality care standards and is required to maintain levels of excellence in the delivery of comprehensive patient-centered care.
New Hanover Regional Medical Center received the ACTION Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2018 from the American College of Cardiology’s National Cardiovascular Data Registry.
The award recognizes NHRMC’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies that NHRMC has reached an aggressive goal of treating these patients to standard levels of care as outlined by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association clinical guidelines and recommendations.
Pender Memorial Hospital Skilled Nursing has been recognized as a 2018 recipient of the Bronze – Commitment to Quality Award for its commitment to improving the lives of residents through quality care.
The program honors association members across the country that have demonstrated their dedication to improving quality of care for seniors and persons with disabilities.
New Hanover Regional Medical Center’s Bariatric Surgery Program has been designated as a Blue Distinction® Center+ by Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Blue Distinction Centers+ for Bariatric Surgery are healthcare facilities with demonstrated expertise and a commitment to quality care while meeting requirements for cost efficiency.
Blue Distinction Centers+ for Bariatric Surgery designations are awarded for two types of bariatric procedures: gastric stapling and gastric banding. To be considered for designation, the facility must provide a full range of bariatric surgery care, including inpatient care, postoperative care, outpatient follow-up care and patient education.
Evaluation criteria are based on what impacts the patient and patient care the most, including:
- The expertise of the medical team
- The number of times NHRMC has performed bariatric procedures
- NHRMC’s track record for procedure results