Use of Strategies to Improve Door-to-Needle Times With Tissue-Type Plasminogen Activator in Acute Ischemic Stroke in Clinical Practice: Findings from Target: Stroke.

BACKGROUND: The implementation of Target: Stroke Phase I, the first stage of the American Heart Association's national quality improvement initiative to accelerate door-to-needle (DTN) times, was associated with an average 15-minute reduction in DTN times. TARGET: Stroke phase II was launched in April 2014 with a goal of promoting further reduction in treatment times for tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) administration. METHODS AND RESULTS: We conducted a second survey of Get With The Guidelines-Stroke hospitals regarding strategies used to reduce delays after Target: Stroke and quantify their association with DTN times. A total of 16 901 ischemic stroke patients were treated with intravenous tPA within 4.5 hours of symptom onset from 888 surveyed hospitals between June 2014 and April 2015. The patient-level median DTN time was 56 minutes (interquartile range, 42-75), with 59.3% of patients receiving intravenous tPA within 60 minutes and 30.4% within 45 minutes after hospital arrival. Most hospitals reported routinely using a majority of Target: Stroke key practice strategies, although direct transport of patients to computed tomographic/magenetic resonance imaging scanner, premix of tPA ahead of time, initiation of tPA in brain imaging suite, and prompt data feedback to emergency medical services providers were used less frequently. Overall, we identified 16 strategies associated with significant reductions in DTN times. Combined, a total of 20 minutes (95% confidence intervals 15-25 minutes) could be saved if all strategies were implemented. CONCLUSIONS: Get With The Guidelines-Stroke hospitals have initiated a majority of Target: Stroke-recommended strategies to reduce DTN times in acute ischemic stroke. Nevertheless, certain strategies were infrequently practiced and represent a potential immediate target for further improvements.

The implementation of an innovative statewide quality improvement initiative.

Acute stroke can result in neurological impairment and potentially death. The Colorado Stroke Alliance has made significant progress in improving stroke care through their statewide quality improvement efforts. The following provides an overview of how this effort has come to fruition. Included is an overview of the collaboration, an explanation of the organizational structure, the source of funding, a description of the statewide quality efforts improvement including mentoring and data reporting, and an overview of nursing involvement. This discussion highlights how a relatively small task force has transformed into a growing nonprofit organization, becoming a model for best practices.

Development of a metropolitan matrix of primary stroke centers: the Phoenix experience.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In 1998, 2947 patients in metropolitan Phoenix were hospitalized for acute cerebral infarction. Only 2 of the 26 regional hospitals satisfied criteria for primary stroke center (PSC) designation. Fewer than 1% of patients with ischemic stroke received tissue plasminogen activator for thrombolysis. We sought to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a metropolitan prehospital emergency medical system for effectively identifying and transporting patients with acute stroke to a matrix of predesignated PSCs and increasing to 20% the proportion of all such patients receiving tissue plasminogen activator. METHODS: The American Stroke Association Phoenix Operation Stroke partnered with the Arizona Emergency Medical Systems in 1998 to 1999 to list goals and objectives, identify key stakeholders, and develop committees to address community education, emergency medical system training, and PSC designation. RESULTS: Over 8 years, emergency medical system personnel were trained to identify and transport patients with acute stroke to PSCs, 8 hospitals met PSC criteria, the metropolitan matrix of PSCs became operational (in 2003), and 18% of patients with acute ischemic stroke received thrombolysis. CONCLUSIONS: It is feasible to develop and operationalize a successful metropolitan-wide matrix of PSCs to accommodate emergency medical system-identified and transported patients with acute stroke in a 9000-square-mile region with a population of 3.5 million people.