25 Oct How Good Is Stroke Care in Canada?

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Michael Douglas Hill, MD, MSc
The Calgary Stroke Program, Department of Clinical Neurosciences
Hotchkiss Brain Institute
Associate Professor, University of Calgary
Calgary, Alta

MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study?

Dr. Hill:  We conducted an audit of stroke admissions to Canadian hospitals in all provinces.  We examined key metrics of quality stroke care focusing on the acute treatment.

Use of thrombolysis for stroke is a key quality metric in the Accreditation Canada standards for stroke care.  We found that the use of thrombolysis, while better than the past review (CMAJ. 2005 May 10;172(10):1307-12) remains low.  This is a marker for the overall quality of acute stroke care in Canada.  As expected, larger academic hospitals perform at a higher level than smaller community hospitals.

Overall, this study serves to quantify the gaps in the delivery of acute stroke care to Canadians.

MedicalResearch: What future research do you recommend as a result of this report?

Dr. Hill:  Ideal next steps are to continue to improve patient outcomes through ongoing education and quality improvement activities in hospitals across Canada.

Citation:

The quality of treatment of hyperacute ischemic stroke in Canada: a retrospective chart audit

Aravind Ganesh, Marie Camden, Patrice Lindsay, Moira K. Kapral, Robert Coté, Jiming Fang, Brandon Zagorski, Michael Douglas Hill, and for the Canadian Stroke Audit Group

The quality of treatment of hyperacute ischemic stroke in Canada: a retrospective chart audit cmajo 2:E233-E239; published online October 23, 2014, doi:10.9778/cmajo.20140067

Last Updated on October 27, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD