Barriers to integrating portable Magnetic Resonance Imaging systems in emergency medical service ambulances for stroke care.

This study examines the barriers to integrating portable Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) systems into ambulance services to enable effective triaging of patients to the appropriate hospitals for timely stroke care and potentially reduce door-to-needle time for thrombolytic administration. The study employs a qualitative methodology using a digital twin of the patient handling process developed and demonstrated through semi-structured interviews with 18 participants, including 11 paramedics from an Emergency Medical Services system and seven neurologists from a tertiary stroke care centre. The interview transcripts were thematically analysed to determine the barriers based on the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety framework. Key barriers include the need for MRI operation skills, procedural complexities in patient handling, space constraints, and the need for training and policy development. Potential solutions are suggested to mitigate these barriers. The findings can facilitate implementing MRI systems in ambulances to expedite stroke treatment.

This study investigates the challenges of integrating portable MRI systems into ambulances for faster stroke care. It identifies key barriers such as operational skills, procedural complexities, space constraints, and policy development needs, and offers a few solutions to improve emergency stroke treatment.

A landscape assessment of CTSA evaluators and their work in the CTSA consortium, 2021 survey findings.

This article presents a landscape assessment of the findings from the 2021 Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Evaluators Survey. This survey was the most recent iteration of a well established, national, peer-led systematic snapshot of the CTSA evaluators, their skillsets, listed evaluation resources, preferred methods, and identified best practices. Three questions guided our study: who are the CTSA evaluators, what competencies do they share and how is their work used within hubs. We describe our survey process (logistics of development, deployment, and differences in historical context with prior instruments); and present its main findings. We provide specific recommendations for evaluation practice in two main categories (National vs Group-level) including, among others, the need for a national, strategic plan for evaluation as well as enhanced mentoring and training of the next generation of evaluators. Although based on the challenges and opportunities currently within the CTSA Consortium, takeaways from this study constitute important lessons with potential for application in other large evaluation consortia. To our knowledge, this is the first time 2021 survey findings are disseminated widely, to increase transparency of the CTSA evaluators' work and to motivate conversations within hub and beyond, as to how best to leverage existent evaluative capacity.

Patient Perceptions of Audio-Only Versus Video Telehealth Visits: A Qualitative Study Among Patients in an Academic Medical Center Setting.

Introduction: Telehealth utilization surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, offering expanded health care access. Audio-only visits emerged as a crucial tool for patients facing technology or connectivity barriers to still use telehealth. This qualitative study aims to better understand patient perceptions of audio-only versus video telehealth visits during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how patients perceive the role of each in their overall health care. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 adult patients seeking care at an academic medical center located in the Southeast region of the United States. Patients had experienced both an audio-only and video telehealth visit within the past 6 months. Topics covered in the interview included comfort, preference, quality, and communication during each type of visit. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, coded, and analyzed using a general inductive approach. Results: Participants valued having both modalities available largely due to convenience and saw these visits as supplemental or supporting their in-person care. Preferences for visit types were varied among participants and were context-specific, influenced by visit purpose and provider rapport. Patients viewed audio-only visits favorably for informational follow-ups and highlighted their convenience, particularly for multitasking and caregiving duties. In contrast, video visits were seen as more effective for communication due to visual cues and better suited for demonstrating health conditions. Audio-only visits were also seen as less technology-dependent and served as a vital back-up to failed video encounters. Discussion: Despite varied preferences, patients perceived both modalities as complementary to in-person care. Concerns around the quality of care were mitigated by patients' and providers' judicious use of visit types based on clinical appropriateness and existing rapport. The results emphasize the necessity and flexibility of audio-only visits in ensuring equitable access to telehealth, especially for those with technology limitations or demanding responsibilities. To maintain the access and convenience afforded by telehealth and ensure these benefits are offered equitably, policy makers and health care organizations must continue to provide flexible telehealth options, including audio-only visits.

The role of stroke care infrastructure on the effectiveness of a hub-and-spoke telestroke model in South Carolina.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between stroke care infrastructure and stroke quality-of-care outcomes at 29 spoke hospitals participating in the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) hub-and-spoke telestroke network. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Encounter-level data from MUSC's telestroke patient registry were filtered to include encounters during 2015-2022 for patients aged 18 and above with a clinical diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke, and who received intravenous tissue plasminogen activator. Unadjusted and adjusted generalized estimating equations assessed associations between time-related stroke quality-of-care metrics captured during the encounter and the existence of the two components of stroke care infrastructure-stroke coordinators and stroke center certifications-across all hospitals and within hospital subgroups defined by size and rurality. RESULTS: Telestroke encounters at spoke hospitals with stroke coordinators and stroke center certifications were associated with shorter door-to-needle (DTN) times (60.9 min for hospitals with both components and 57.3 min for hospitals with one, vs. 81.2 min for hospitals with neither component, p <.001). Similar patterns were observed for the percentage of encounters with DTN time of ≤60 min (63.8% and 68.9% vs. 32.0%, p <.001) and ≤45 min (34.0% and 38.4% vs. 8.42%, p <.001). Associations were similar for other metrics (e.g., door-to-registration time), and were stronger for smaller (vs. larger) hospitals and rural (vs. urban) hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: Stroke coordinators or stroke center certifications may be important for stroke quality of care, especially at spoke hospitals with limited resources or in rural areas.

Interprofessional staff perspectives on the adoption of or black box technology and simulations to improve patient safety: a multi-methods survey.

INTRODUCTION: Medical errors still plague healthcare. Operating Room Black Box (ORBB) and ORBB-simulation (ORBBSIM) are innovative emerging technologies which continuously capture as well as categorize intraoperative data, team information, and audio-visual files, in effort to improve objective quality measures. ORBB and ORBBSIM have an opportunity to improve patient safety, yet a paucity of implementation literature exists. Overcoming implementation barriers is critical. This study sought to obtain rich insights while identifying facilitators and barriers to adoption of ORBB and ORBBSIM in alignment with Donabedian's model of health services and healthcare quality. Enrichment themes included translational performance improvement and real-world examples to develop sessions. METHODS: Interprofessional OR staff were invited to complete two surveys assessing staff's perceptions using TeamSTEPPS's validated Teamwork Perceptions Questionnaire (T-TPQ) and open-ended questions. Descriptive statistics were calculated for quantitative variables, and inductive phenomenological content analysis was used for qualitative. RESULTS: Survey 1 captured 71 responses from 334 invited (RR 21%) while survey 2 captured 47 responses from 157 (RR 29.9%). The T-TPQ score was 65.2, with Communication (70.4) the highest construct and Leadership (58.0) the lowest. Quality Improvement (QI), Patient Safety, and Objective Case Review were the most common perceived ORBB benefits. Trends suggested a reciprocal benefit of dual ORBB and ORBBSIM adoption. Trends also suggested that dual implementation can promote Psychological Safety, culture, trust, and technology comfort. The need for an implementation plan built on change management principles and a constructive culture were key findings. CONCLUSIONS: Findings supported ORBB implementation themes from previous literature and deepened our understanding through the exploration of team culture. This blueprint provides a model to help organizations adopt ORBB and ORBBSIM. Outcomes can establish an empirical paradigm for future studies.

Establishing a Centralized Virtual Visit Support Team: Early Insights.

BACKGROUND: With the removal of many barriers to direct-to-consumer telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in a historic surge in the adoption of telehealth into ongoing practice, health systems must now identify the most efficient and effective way to sustain these visits. The Medical University of South Carolina Center for Telehealth developed a Telehealth Centralized Support team as part of a strategy to mature the support infrastructure for the continued large-scale use of outpatient virtual care. The team was deployed as the Center for Telehealth rolled out a new ambulatory telehealth software platform to monitor clinical activity, support patient registration and virtual rooming, and ensure successful visit completion. METHODS: A multi-method, program-evaluation approach was used to describe the development and composition of the Telehealth Centralized Support Team in its first 18 months utilizing the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance framework. RESULTS: In the first 18 months of the Telehealth Centralized Support team, over 75,000 visits were scheduled, with over 1500 providers serving over 46,000 unique patients. The team was successfully deployed over a large part of the clinical enterprise and has been well received across the health system. It has proven to be a scalable model to support enterprise-level virtual health care delivery. CONCLUSIONS: While further research is needed to evaluate the long-term program outcomes, the results of its early implementation suggest great promise for improved telehealth patient and provider satisfaction, the more equitable delivery of virtual services, and more cost-effective means for supporting virtual care.

Mobile point-of-care MRI demonstration of a normal volunteer in a telemedicine-equipped ambulance.

OBJECTIVE: Several centers have implemented ambulances equipped with CT scanners and telemedicine capabilities, known as mobile stroke units (MSU), to expedite acute stroke care delivery in the pre-hospital setting. While MSUs have been shown to improve outcomes compared with standard emergency medical management, there are limitations to incorporating CT, including radiation exposure to emergency medical services personnel. Recently, a portable, low-field strength MRI (Swoop®, Hyperfine, Inc., Guilford, CT) received FDA clearance for in-hospital use. Here, as proof-of-concept, we explore the possibility of performing MRI in a telemedicine-equipped ambulance during active transport. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this initial technical demonstration, we imaged an MR phantom and a normal human volunteer using a standard stroke protocol during active ambulance transport. RESULTS: Images of the MR phantom and volunteer were successfully obtained and were immediately available for viewing in the hospital PACS system. The images were deemed of diagnostic quality by the radiologist. Active motion correction maintained superior image quality despite vehicle and scanner motion. In-plane, low contrast resolution of greater than 4 × 4 mm was achieved. Average transmit speeds were calculated to be 3.54 Megabits/second and upload data rates varied while in transit ranging from 8.54 to 4.13 Megabits/second. CONCLUSION: While MRI is not yet ready for clinical use in the MSU setting, our initial experience suggests potential technological feasible of this approach following future technical and MRI sequence development. Additional studies, incorporating patients, would be required to determine clinical feasibility.

Preparing clinicians to be site investigators in multicenter clinical trials: A training program at an academic medical center.

Clinical trials are essential in the translation of biomedical discoveries to new clinical interventions and therapeutics. Successful multisite clinical trials require qualified site investigators with an understanding of the full spectrum of processes and requirements from trial identification through closeout. New site investigators may be deterred by competing demands on their time, the complexity of administrative and regulatory processes for trial initiation and conduct, and limited access to experienced mentor networks. We established a Clinical Trialist Training Program (CTTP) and complimentary Clinical Trials Bootcamp at our institution to address these barriers and increase the number of local site investigators enabled to lead successful clinical trials. An initial cohort of four CTTP scholars received salary support with protected time, didactic training, assistance with study identification and start-up navigation, and quarterly progress meetings. By the end of the 12-month program, this initial cohort identified 33 new trials, utilized feasibility assessments, and reported being on target to sustain their protected time from new clinical trials. Bootcamp attendees demonstrated increased knowledge of resources, offices, and processes associated with clinical trial conduct. Our results support providing compensated protected time, training, and access to experienced clinical research professionals to enable clinicians to become successful site investigators.

Self-Assessment of Research Skills and Barriers to Research Careers among Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellows.

BACKGROUND: Recruitment and retention of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine (PCCM) trainees into academic research positions remain difficult. Factors influencing graduates, like salary and personal circumstances, remain unchangeable. However, some program-level factors, like research skill acquisition and mentorship, may be modifiable to encourage matriculation into academic research positions. OBJECTIVE: We aim to identify proficiency in research-specific skills in PCCM trainees and barriers to careers as research-focused academic faculty. METHODS: We surveyed PCCM fellows in a nationwide cross-sectional analysis including demographics, research intent, research skills self-assessment, and academic career barriers. The Association of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Program Directors approved and disseminated the survey. Data were collected and stored using the REDCap database. Descriptive statistics were used to assess survey items. RESULTS: 612 fellows received the primary survey with 112 completing the survey for a response rate of 18.3%. A majority were male (56.2%) and training at university-based medical centers (89.2%). Early fellowship trainees (first-/second-year fellows) comprised 66.9% of respondents with 33.1% being late fellowship trainees (third-/fourth-year fellows). Most early trainees (63.2%) indicated they intended to incorporate research into their careers. A chi-square testing of independence was performed to examine the relationship between training level and perceived proficiency. Significant relationships in perceived proficiency were identified between early and late fellowship trainees with an absolute difference of 25.3% (manuscript writing), 18.7% (grant writing), 21.6% (study design), and 19.5% (quantitative/qualitative methodology). The most prevalent barriers were unfamiliarity with grant writing (59.5%) and research funding uncertainty (56.8%). CONCLUSION: With an ongoing need for academic research faculty, this study identifies self-perceived gaps in research skills including grant writing, data analytics, and study conception and design. These skills map to fellow-identified barriers to careers in academics. Mentorship and innovative curriculum focusing on the development of key research skills may enhance academic research faculty recruitment.

Contribution of Continuous Virtual Monitoring to Hospital Safety, Quality, and Value of Care for COVID-19 Patients.

Introduction: The rapid onset of the COVID-19 pandemic increased hospital admissions and shortages for personal protective equipment (PPE) used to slow the spread of infections. In addition, nurses treating COVID-19 patients have time-consuming guidelines to properly don and doff PPE to prevent the spread. Methods: To address these issues, the Medical University of South Carolina repurposed continuous virtual monitoring (CVM) systems to reduce the need for staff to enter patient rooms. The objective of this study was to identify the economic implications associated with using the CVM program for COVID-19 patients. We employed a time-driven activity-based costing approach to determine time and costs saved by implementing CVM. Results: Over the first 52 days of the pandemic, the use of the CVM system helped providers attend to patients needs virtually while averting 19,086 unnecessary in-person interactions. The estimated cost savings for the CVM program for COVID-19 patients in 2020 were $419,319, not including potential savings from avoided COVID-19 transmissions to health care workers. A total of 19,086 PPE changes were avoided, with savings of $186,661. After accounting for cost of the CVM system, the net savings provided an outstanding return on investment of 20.6 for the CVM program for COVID-19 patient care. Conclusion: The successful and cost saving repurposing of CVM systems could be expanded to other infectious disease applications, and be applied to high-risk groups, such as bone marrow and organ transplant patients.

Building telehealth teams of the future through Interprofessional curriculum development: a five-year mixed methodology study.

Building the next generation of telehealth enabled professionals requires a mixture of team-based, interprofessional practice with novel technologies that connect providers and patients. Effective telehealth education is critical for the development of multidisciplinary training curricula to ensure workforce preparedness. In this study, we evaluated the impact of a formal telehealth education curriculum for interprofessional students through an online elective. Over 12 semesters, 170 students self-selected to enroll in the 3-credit hour interprofessional elective and took part in structured didactic, experiential and interprofessional learning opportunities. Mixed-method assessments show significant knowledge and confidence gains with students reflecting on their roles as future healthcare providers. The results from five years' worth of course data shows not only an opportunity to advance the individual knowledge of trainees, but a larger movement to facilitate changes in practice toward population health goals. Recent global health events have further highlighted the need for a rapid response to public health emergencies by highly trained provider teams who are able to utilize technology as the cornerstone for the continuity of care.

Exploratory study of the underutilization of CTSA module services.

Background/Objective: The Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program aims to enhance the quality, efficiency, and impact of translation from discovery to interventions that improve human health. CTSA program hubs at medical research institutions across the United States develop and test innovative tools, methods, and processes, offering core resources and training for the clinical and translational research (CTR) workforce. Hubs have developed services across different domains, such as informatics and pilot studies, to provide ad hoc expertise and staffing for local research teams. Although these services can provide efficient, cost-effective ways to cover skills gaps and implement rigorous studies, three CTSAs of varying size found the majority of investigators were single domain service users, likely missing opportunities to further enhance their work. Methods: Through interviews with CTSA service users and a survey of CTSA service managers, this exploratory study aims to identify barriers to using services from multiple modules and solutions to overcome those barriers. Results: Barriers include challenges in finding information about services, unclear or unknown user needs, and users' lack of funding to engage in services. More issues were identified for the largest CTSA. Conclusions: Although this study represents a small subset of CTSA hubs, we anticipate that our findings and proposed solutions will be relevant to the broader CTSA community. This study provides foundational information can use in their own efforts to increase service utilization and methods that can be used for more comprehensive studies that focus on explaining the relationship between CTSA features and rates of single versus cross-module service use.

An integrated approach to improve clinical trial efficiency: Linking a clinical trial management system into the Research Integrated Network of Systems.

Low-accruing clinical trials delay translation of research breakthroughs into the clinic, expose participants to risk without providing meaningful clinical insight, increase the cost of therapies, and waste limited resources. By tracking patient accrual, Clinical and Translational Science Awards hubs can identify at-risk studies and provide them the support needed to reach recruitment goals and maintain financial solvency. However, tracking accrual has proved challenging because relevant patient- and protocol-level data often reside in siloed systems. To address this fragmentation, in September 2020 the South Carolina Clinical and Translational Research Institute, with an academic home at the Medical University of South Carolina, implemented a clinical trial management system (CTMS), with its access to patient-level data, and incorporated it into its Research Integrated Network of Systems (RINS), which links study-level data across disparate systems relevant to clinical research. Within the first year of CTMS implementation, 324 protocols were funneled through CTMS/RINS, with more than 2600 participants enrolled. Integrated data from CTMS/RINS have enabled near-real-time assessment of patient accrual and accelerated reimbursement from industry sponsors. For institutions with bioinformatics or programming capacity, the CTMS/RINS integration provides a powerful model for tracking and improving clinical trial efficiency, compliance, and cost-effectiveness.

Effect of novel training to normalize altered finger force direction post-stroke: study protocol for a double-blind randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Functional task performance requires proper control of both movement and force generation in three-dimensional space, especially for the hand. Control of force in three dimensions, however, is not explicitly treated in current physical rehabilitation. To address this gap in treatment, we have developed a tool to provide visual feedback on three-dimensional finger force. Our objective is to examine the effectiveness of training with this tool to restore hand function in stroke survivors. METHODS: Double-blind randomized controlled trial. All participants undergo 18 1-h training sessions to practice generating volitional finger force of various target directions and magnitudes. The experimental group receives feedback on both force direction and magnitude, while the control group receives feedback on force magnitude only. The primary outcome is hand function as measured by the Action Research Arm Test. Other outcomes include the Box and Block Test, Stroke Impact Scale, ability to direct finger force, muscle activation pattern, and qualitative interviews. DISCUSSION: The protocol for this clinical trial is described in detail. The results of this study will reveal whether explicit training of finger force direction in stroke survivors leads to improved motor control of the hand. This study will also improve the understanding of neuromuscular mechanisms underlying the recovery of hand function. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03995069 . Registered on June 21, 2019.

Clinical and translational research workforce education survey identifies needs of faculty and staff.

Developing the translational research workforce is a goal established by the National Center for Advancing Translational Science for its network of Clinical and Translational Science Award Program hubs. We surveyed faculty and research staff at our institution about their needs and preferences, utilization of existing trainings, and barriers and facilitators to research training. A total of 545 (21.9%) faculty and staff responded to the survey and rated grant development, research project development, and professional development among their top areas for further training. Faculty prioritized statistical methods and dissemination and implementation, while staff prioritized research compliance and research administration. Faculty (73.9%; n = 119) and staff (87.3%; n = 165) reported that additional training would give them more confidence in completing their job responsibilities. Time and lack of awareness were the most common barriers to training. Our results indicate the value of training across a range of topics with unique needs for faculty and staff. This pre-COVID survey identified time, awareness, and access to training opportunities as key barriers for faculty and staff. The shift to remote work spurred by the pandemic has further heightened the need for effective and readily accessible online trainings to enable continuous development of the clinical and translational research workforce.

Patient Satisfaction of Telemedicine Remote Patient Monitoring: A Systematic Review.

Introduction: To examine the variety of patient satisfaction instruments (i.e., measures, methods, and scales) used within telemedicine remote patient monitoring (RPM) services; and to assess the quality of RPM patient satisfaction instruments. Methods: Three databases were searched for articles that used survey instrumentation to assess patient satisfaction of RPM services: (1) Healthcare Administration Database (PROQUEST), (2) Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and (3) PubMed (MEDLINE). The quality of survey instrumentation methods was assessed based on validity and reliability using the Terwee et al. framework. Results: Nine studies were included in the final review. For internal consistency, seven out of nine studies received an "indeterminant" quality rating; six out of nine of the studies received a "positive" quality rating for measurement error. For content validity, seven out of nine studies received a "positive" quality rating. Discussion: There are several RPM surveys that are used to assess patient satisfaction. This review suggests wide variation among the quality, reliability, and validity of the surveys currently used in practice. Assessing patient satisfaction of RPM services by organizations, researchers, and practitioners should be done through use of reliable instrumentation.

Not Home Alone: Leveraging Telehealth and Informatics to Create a Lean Model for COVID-19 Patient Home Care.

In response to the emerging COVID-19 public health emergency in March 2020, the Medical University of South Carolina rapidly implemented an analytics-enhanced remote patient monitoring (RPM) program with state-wide reach for SARS-CoV-2-positive patients. Patient-reported data and other analytics were used to prioritize the sickest patients for contact by RPM nurses, enabling a small cadre of RPM nurses, with the support of ambulatory providers and urgent care video visits, to oversee 1234 patients, many of whom were older, from underserved populations, or at high risk of serious complications. Care was escalated based on prespecified criteria to primary care provider or emergency department visit, with 89% of moderate- to high-risk patients treated solely at home. The RPM nurses facilitated the continuity of care during escalation or de-escalation of care, provided much-needed emotional support to patients quarantining at home and helped find medical homes for patients with tenuous ties to health care.

The development and implementation of a "B-Team" (buprenorphine team) to treat hospitalized patients with opioid use disorder.

IMPLEMENTATION INSIGHTS.

Enterprise Adoption of Telehealth: An Academic Medical Center's Experience Utilizing the Telehealth Service Implementation Model.

There are numerous challenges to developing and sustaining successful telehealth services and a paucity of guiding frameworks to inform telehealth strategy, design, and ongoing operations. The framework Telehealth Service Implementation Model (TSIM)™ was developed to provide a guiding telehealth framework that enables grassroots innovations and accounts for the many factors and domains necessary for successful telehealth service development, implementation, and sustainment. TSIM includes six phases: (1) Pipeline, (2) Strategy, (3) Development, (4) Implementation, (5) Operations, and (6) Continuous Quality Improvement. TSIM provides common terminology for improved team coordination, checkpoints, and milestones to facilitate scaling telehealth services, and a process to get stalled services back on track. TSIM provides an invaluable framework to assist organizations in developing a strategic vision for telehealth services, designing telehealth services enabled for success, and monitoring for high quality and high reliability.

Outcomes of interfacility helicopter transportation in acute stroke care.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the long-term functional outcome of interhospital transfer of patients with stroke with suspected large vessel occlusion (LVO) using Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS). METHODS: Records of consecutive patients evaluated through 2 telestroke networks and transferred to thrombectomy-capable stroke centers between March 2017 and March 2018 were reviewed. Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) using the propensity score was performed to address confounding factors. Multivariate logistic regression analysis with IPTW was used to determine whether HEMS were associated with good long-term functional outcome (modified Rankin scale score ≤ 2). RESULTS: A total of 199 patients were included; median age was 67 years (interquartile range [IQR] 55-79 years), 90 (45.2%) were female, 120 (60.3%) were white, and 100 (50.3%) were transferred by HEMS. No significant differences between the 2 groups were found in mean age, sex, race, IV tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) receipt, and thrombectomy receipt. The median baseline NIH Stroke Scale score was 14 (IQR 9-18) in the helicopter group vs 11 (IQR 6-18) for patients transferred by ground (p = 0.039). The median transportation time was 60 minutes (IQR 49-70 minutes) by HEMS and 84 minutes (IQR 25-102 minutes) by ground (p < 0.001). After weighting baseline characteristics, the use of HEMS was associated with higher odds of good long-term outcome (OR 4.738, 95% CI 2.15-10.444, p < 0.001) controlling for transportation time, door-in-door-out time, and thrombectomy and tPA receipt. The magnitude of the HEMS effect was larger in thrombectomy patients who had successful recanalization (OR 1.758, 95% CI 1.178-2.512, p = 0.027). CONCLUSIONS: HEMS use was associated with better long-term functional outcome in patients with suspected LVO, independently of transportation time.