Zambrano Hellion Hospital receives award for treating heart failure

TecSalud’s Zambrano Hellion Hospital has been recognized by the American Heart Association (AHA) for its best practices in treating patients with heart failure.

This TecSalud hospital has received the Get With The Guidelines® - Heart Failure Silver Plus Quality Award, the highest attainable level as this is the first time the hospital has applied under this category.

Dr. Erasmo de la Peña Almaguer, Director of TecSalud’s Cardiovascular Medicine Institute, expressed his pride in the team that won this award.

“It’s the only award to be presented this year in the country. It’s the result of teamwork and one of the things that lets us know we’re on the right track,” he shared.

In 2024, the hospital received Gold Level recognition for excellence in the care of patients with coronary artery disease. As a result, TecSalud created a clinic for monitoring heart failure patients.

Beginning patient registration

In December 2023, the hospital’s cardiology health care team decided to apply to the AHA’s Get With The Guidelines® program under the heart failure category.

This was aimed at improving the care of patients with the disease through the implementation of the latest evidence-based treatment guidelines.

“We started with a pilot study of 30 cases recorded in January, February, and March 2023,” said nursing graduate Merari López.

“Subsequently, for the formal assessment, we recorded a total of 70 cases throughout 2024,” she added.

These cases involved hospitalized patients who, through clinical testing, were diagnosed with some degree of heart failure during their hospitalization.

Exceeding the goal at 90%

Get With The Guidelines® is a registry tool provided by the AHA, in which participating hospitals collect data to improve patient care.

Through this information, which measures the effectiveness of international guideline implementation, the aim is to improve the outcomes of cardiovascular or stroke patients.

According to Merari López, the AHA recognition criteria were based primarily on the correct administration of medication and adequate patient follow-up.

“In order to obtain recognition, we needed to meet 75% of the recognition criteria, and we managed to meet 90%,” she said.

“It’s extremely satisfying to have obtained these results,” said the heart failure specialist nurse who, along with Dr. Mónica Flores from TecSalud, was in charge of data collection.

“This unified approach ensures we’re following the correct protocols to guarantee a high standard of patient care.” – Jaime Guajardo

Developing heart failure clinic

As a result of implementing AHA guidelines to participate in this assessment, TecSalud established a clinic for monitoring heart failure patients.

According to Dr. Erasmo, this clinic is the only one of its kind in Mexico’s private sector, which offers patients a better quality of life through patient education and treatment monitoring.

For his part, Dr. Jaime Guajardo, cardiologist and clinic coordinator, emphasized that many health centers in Mexico fail to initiate adequate treatment for heart failure.

“They don’t provide adequate follow-up care either, which means patients don’t improve and require hospitalization or cardiac assist devices.”

He emphasized that this clinic aims to create a care model with standardized practices for a condition requiring lifelong treatment.

“The implementation of best practices endorsed by the AHA at TecSalud marks the beginning of a team effort where all cardiologists are aligned in the treatment of this condition.”

“This unified approach not only ensures we’re following the correct protocols, but also standardizes our methods, guaranteeing a high standard of patient care,” Guajardo concluded.

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