Mount Nittany Medical Center has received the Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure Gold Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association.

The recognition signifies the medical center has reached an exceptional goal of treating heart failure patients according to the guidelines of care recommended by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology.

The guidelines help staff develop and apply acute and secondary prevention guideline processes to improve patient care and outcomes. The program provides hospitals with a Web-based patient management tool, best practice discharge protocols and standing orders, along with a robust registry and real-time benchmarking capabilities to track performance, according to a hospital release.