Use of an Internet-Based Tool to Improve Hospital Care of Stroke Patients

“Get With The Guidelines–Stroke,” a quality-improvement initiative at 99 U.S. hospitals, produced impressive results in 1 year.

Despite the wide availability of published guidelines for stroke management, many hospitalized stroke patients do not receive evidence-based interventions. To help hospitals redesign their systems of stroke care, the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association launched the “Get With The Guidelines–Stroke” program (GWTG–Stroke) with an Internet-based tool for data collection and clinical-decision support. In the current study, 99 community and teaching hospitals participated in a GWTG–Stroke initiative.

Data from 18,410 patients (80% white; 56% men; mean age, 75) were analyzed. Over a 1-year period, thrombolysis in patients with ischemic stroke presenting within 2 hours after symptom onset increased by 17.3%. Documentation of c…

Reviewing Author

Joel M. Gore, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportNIH–National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Joel M. Gore, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportNIH–National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Use of an Internet-Based Tool to Improve Hospital Care of Stroke Patients

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Reviewing Author