Abstract WMP93: Efficacy of a Comprehensive Stroke Clinic Model on Reducing Readmissions after Ischemic Stroke

Stroke ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Glaser ◽  
Lisa Kotzen ◽  
Holly Weissman ◽  
Lauren Singer ◽  
Rebbeca Grysiewicz

Background: Stroke is a leading cause of hospital admissions among the elderly, and reducing readmission rates has become a primary goal of healthcare reform. Hospitals are now being held financially responsible for 30 day readmission rates exceeding their expected rate [1]. Our aim was to determine if patients seen in the comprehensive stroke discharge clinic had reduced 30 day readmissions compared to standard hospital follow up after ischemic stroke. Methods: Patients with a discharge diagnosis of ischemic stroke receive a phone call from the neurology office staff within 3 business days of hospital discharge to schedule an appointment with a mid-level provider in the comprehensive stroke discharge clinic within 1-3 weeks. Eligibility for the clinic includes patients ≥ 18 years of age that are either discharged to home directly or discharged to home from inpatient rehabilitation. We performed a retrospective stroke database search of patients meeting this criteria from May 2015 to June 2016. Patients were excluded from the search if they had an inpatient stroke event. Results: Of the 526 patients reviewed, 116 patients (22.1%) were seen in the comprehensive stroke discharge clinic. The average age of patients seen in clinic was 67 years and the average age of patients in the non-clinic group was 69 years. Approximately 12% of patients in each group received acute reperfusion therapy. There was only one 30 day related readmission in the clinic group, and fourteen 30 day related readmissions in the non-clinic group (0.86% versus 3.41%; 95% CI 0.12-4.99%). There were eight 30 day all cause readmissions in the clinic group, and forty-two 30 day all cause readmissions in the non-clinic group (6.90% versus 10.24%; 95% CI -2.12-8.81%). Conclusion: The comprehensive stroke clinic model may reduce 30 day related readmissions for patients discharged to home. However, there were limitations to this study. The percentage of patients seen in the comprehensive stroke clinic was low. The goal is to improve the clinic follow up rate over the course of the next year. In addition, patients were excluded from the clinic if they were discharged to a skilled nursing facility, which is often associated with a higher readmission rate.

Stroke ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Anderson

Background and Purpose: Patients who are hospitalized for a stroke or TIA go home with a great deal of information about risk factors, medications, diet and exercise, signs and symptoms of stroke and follow-up care. This information may be difficult for the patient or caregiver to understand and can be overwhelming in the face of a new life-changing event. In addition, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will start publicly reporting 30-day readmission rates beginning in 2016. The purpose of this study is to determine if follow-up phone calls with a nurse help to reduce 30 day readmission rates for patients with stroke and TIA. Methods: This study utilized a convenience sample of adult patients who were admitted for ischemic stroke, ICH, SAH or TIA from March 2013 to February 2014. Patients in the intervention group participated in a phone call seven days after discharge to assess their compliance with medications, physician appointments and lifestyle changes. The proportion of readmissions between the groups was compared with Fisher’s exact test. Results: The total number of patients enrolled in the study was 586 and there were no significant differences in demographics between the control and intervention groups. Of the 533 patients in the control group, 54 (10%) of them were readmitted, including 11 patients readmitted for elective surgical procedures. Of the 52 patients in the intervention group, 3 (5.7%) of them were readmitted before the 7-day phone call. Of the 49 patients who participated in the 7-day phone call, none of them were readmitted ( p =0.0098). Conclusions: Patients who participate in a 7-day phone call appear to benefit and are less likely to be readmitted to the hospital. Other strategies may need to be considered for patients who are at higher risk, and thus more likely to be readmitted within seven days of discharge. In addition, some providers may wish to reconsider how they schedule elective procedures for secondary stroke prevention.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (27_suppl) ◽  
pp. 82-82
Author(s):  
Georgina T. Rodgers ◽  
Michelle Brusio ◽  
Jacob Lindberg ◽  
Craig Savage ◽  
Joseph Hooley ◽  
...  

82 Background: Comprehensive, coordinated care is a key driver of care transformation within the Oncology Care Model. Care coordination provides deliberate, organized, patient centered care initiatives aimed to improve care transitions, patient education, patient engagement and quality of care throughout the care continuum. Methods: Specialty care coordinator nurses were a part of our heath system’s model of care but over the course of our participation in the OCM we have implemented care coordination in our regional locations across 15 additional sites of care. Standardized templates for initial and follow up education were created for oral and parenteral therapies with an emphasis on symptom management education. A patient education tool was developed through a partnership with nursing, pharmacy and physicians across disease groups to outline when a patient should contact their physician or RN care coordinator with symptom issues. Targeted outreach calls and associated documentation templates were created for symptom assessment and adequate follow up. Templates include a pre-chemo orientation call, post treatment follow up phone call within seven days, and post hospital discharge/ED treat and release follow up calls. A team based huddle guideline was developed to provide a means for interdisciplinary communication to assess patients for high risk based upon medical, functional, social, cognitive and behavioral factors that might lead to a hospitalization. Results: Our teams worked closely with EMR specialists and internal data analysts to build appropriate templates and subsequent reports to monitor compliance with documentation, evaluate the number of outreach touch points and effectiveness of interventions on a reduction of hospitalizations and ED utilization. We have noted an a modest decrease in hospitalizations and ED utilization through OCM feedback reports and reconciliation reports. Conclusions: We continue to monitor our monthly hospital admissions and ED utilization across the health system and drill down into the data to determine if there are any opportunities where care coordination outreach and incoming telephone triage could have prevented the admission.


PRiMER ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Van De Graaf ◽  
Hemal Patel ◽  
Brynn Sheehan ◽  
Jennifer Ryal

Background: Transitional care management (TCM) programs guide patients from hospital discharge to outpatient follow-up with the goal to decrease hospital readmissions and the cost of care. In 2017, the department of primary care internal medicine (PCIM) at Eastern Virginia Medical Group implemented TCM. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and self-sustainability of this TCM program. Methods: The TCM team contacted patients upon discharge to schedule the follow-up appointment. We coded patient contact as (1) no successful phone-call contact, patient did not attend appointment; (2) successful phone-call contact, patient did not attend appointment; and (3) patient attended appointment. We collected patient demographics, readmissions, and visit costs using manual chart review and electronic health record (EHR) data extraction. We conducted χ2 analysis, one-way analysis of variance, and unpaired t tests to assess associations between readmission rates or costs and TCM care. Results: Initial analysis did not indicate significant associations between readmission rates and level of TCM care at 30 (χ2=1.40, P=.50), 60 (χ2=5.48, P=.06), or 90 (χ2=4.23, P=.12) days or significant differences in patient charges at 30 (F[2,59]=2.85, P=.06), 60 (F[2,91]=2.00, P=.14), or 90 (F[2,126]=1.39, P=.25) days. Follow-up analysis indicated significant associations between readmission rates and any level of TCM care at 60 (χ2=5.40, P=.02) and 90 (χ2=4.21, P=.04) days, but not at 30 days (χ2=1.39, P=.28). Conclusions: Our TCM program review suggests that the benefits of transitional care extend beyond 30 days by decreasing readmission rates at 60 and 90 days after hospital discharge.


Author(s):  
Eric E Smith ◽  
Gregg C Fonarow ◽  
Mathew J Reeves ◽  
Margueritte Cox ◽  
DaiWai Olson ◽  
...  

Introduction: Previous studies suggest that mild or improving stroke is a frequently cited reason for not giving IV rt-PA and that some of these patients have poor outcomes. Methods: We examined the frequency of rt-PA use and contraindications among acute ischemic stroke patients arriving ≤2 hrs in the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Program. Results: Between 4/1/2003-9/29/2009 there were 98,708 patients who arrived directly to the hospital within 2 hours. Among these patients 26.4% received IV rt-PA, 30.9% did not receive rt-PA solely because of mild/improving stroke, 28.6% had other contraindications, and 14.1% had no documented contraindications. From 2003-2009 rtPA use increased, the proportions not given rtPA despite no documented contraindications decreased, and the proportions with mild/improving stroke or other contraindications were similar (Figure). The initial NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS) was recorded in 62.1% with mild/improving stroke and 82.3% given rt-PA; 75% of mild/improving stroke patients had NIHSS <5 while 90% of IV rt-PA-treated patients had NIHSS ≥5. Short-term outcomes in patients with mild/improving stroke were not always good: 1.1% died, 0.7% were discharged to hospice, 10.3% to a skilled nursing facility and 15.1% to an inpatient rehabilitation facility. Conclusion: In this large national study, mild/improving stroke is the most common reason for not giving rt-PA to early arriving patients. More patients are excluded because of mild/improving stroke than are treated with rt-PA. When deciding whether to withhold thrombolysis in patients with mild/improving stroke, clinicians should consider the risk of poor outcomes in this population.


Author(s):  
Philip G Jones ◽  
Adam C Salisbury ◽  
Carole Decker ◽  
Harlan M Krumholz ◽  
John A Spertus

Background: Self-reported readmission rates are frequently reported in the medical literature, yet the validity of these data is controversial. Few studies describe the accuracy of self-report of readmission following an AMI in comparison with physician-adjudicated data. Methods: We studied 4,340 AMI patients enrolled in the 24-US center TRIUMPH registry. Patients were interviewed at 1, 6 and 12 months after their AMI, and were asked to report all hospitalizations since their last contact, including the hospital name, date and reason. After obtaining consent from the patient and each hospital, all hospitalization records within the first year after the patient's index MI were requested and adjudicated by a physician panel. Accuracy of patients’ report of hospitalization and reason for admission (sensitivity, specificity) were assessed. Results: Of 4,340 patients, 3,633 (84%) completed follow-up interviews, reporting a total of 2,016 readmissions. Of these, hospital records were successfully obtained on 1,373. Record review revealed that 501 (36%) were not actual rehospitalizations (e.g., emergency department only, outpatient visits, admissions prior to study enrollment). Interestingly, when obtaining hospital records, we identified another 394 readmissions that were not reported by patients. Sensitivity of self-reported reason for admission was modest to poor for cardiac-cause rehospitalization, AMI and percutaneous coronary intervention (Table). Conclusions: We identified several limitations of self-reported readmission rates in this multi-center AMI cohort. Emergency department and outpatient visits were frequently reported as hospital admissions, nearly 400 hospitalizations were not reported to study personnel at the time of the follow-up interview, and accuracy of patient-reported reason for admission was modest at best. These data underscore the importance of verifying self-reported follow-up outcomes data. Accuracy of Patient Self-Reported Reason for Admission Adjudicated Reason for Admission Sensitivity Specificity Any cardiac 37% 88% AMI 43% 94% PCI 66% 93%


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Zhao ◽  
Skye Coote ◽  
Lauren Pesavento ◽  
Brett Jones ◽  
Edrich Rodrigues ◽  
...  

Background Administration of intravenous idarucizumab to reverse dabigatran anticoagulation prior to thrombolysis for patients with acute ischemic stroke has been previously described, but not in the prehospital setting. The speed and predictability of idarucizumab reversal is well suited to prehospital treatment in a mobile stroke unit and allows patients with recent dabigatran intake to access reperfusion therapy. Aims To describe feasibility of prehospital idarucizumab administration prior to thrombolysis on the Melbourne mobile stroke unit. Methods The Melbourne mobile stroke unit is a specialized stroke ambulance servicing central metropolitan Melbourne, Australia and provides prehospital assessment, scanning and treatment with an integrated CT scanner and multidisciplinary stroke team. All cases were identified through the mobile stroke unit treatment registry since launch in November 2017. Results Of a total of n = 20 thrombolysis cases in the first 4 months of operation, three patients (15%) received intravenous idarucizumab 5 g for dabigatran reversal prior to thrombolysis. Mean time between idarucizumab administration and thrombolysis was approximately 10 minutes. Two of the three patients were shown to have large vessel occlusion on CTA in the mobile stroke unit and proceeded to endovascular thrombectomy. At 24 hours, only one patient had a small amount of asymptomatic petechial hemorrhage on follow-up imaging. All patients demonstrated substantial neurological recovery and were discharged to inpatient rehabilitation. Conclusions Rapid treatment with prehospital administration of idarucizumab prior to thrombolysis using a mobile stroke unit is feasible and facilitates hyperacute treatment.


2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 54-57
Author(s):  
John Tully ◽  
Alessandra Cappai ◽  
John Lally ◽  
Maria Fotiadou

Aims and methodWe aimed to examine clinical and risk outcomes at follow-up, and reoffending and readmission rates, for a sample of 50 admissions to a female medium secure unit (MSU). Demographic, clinical risk assessment (HCR-20 and HoNOS-Secure) and quality of life data were collected using validated measures for all admissions to a female MSU ward in London, UK, between April 2008 and November 2014.ResultsAll clinical and risk assessment scale scores had improved at follow-up. Quality of life compared favourably to community samples and was good for physical, social and environmental factors and acceptable for psychological health. Twenty-six per cent had at least one readmission, while 17.5% reoffended in the period studied. A longer duration of admission and use of restrictions on discharge was associated with reduced reoffending, but not readmission.Clinical implicationsAdmission is associated with improvement on clinical risk assessment at follow-up. Longer hospital admissions and use of restrictions on discharge may be necessary to prevent reoffending in this group.Declaration of interestNone.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 127-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Allen ◽  
Todd Barron ◽  
Ashley Mo ◽  
Richard Tangel ◽  
Ruth Linde ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Louise Molmenti Christine ◽  
Mitra Neil ◽  
Shah Abhinit ◽  
Flynn Anne ◽  
Brown Zenobia ◽  
...  

Background: A shortage of beds, high case volume, decreased availability of outpatient medical doctors, and limited disease knowledge resulted in the premature discharge and poor follow up of COVID-19 patients in the New York Metropolitan Area. Objective: The primary objective of this retrospective study and phone survey was to characterize the demographics and clinical outcomes (e.g., readmission rates, comorbidities, mortality, and functional status) of COVID-19 patients discharged without follow-up. The secondary objective was to assess the impact of race and comorbidities on readmission rates and the extent to which patients were escalated to another care provider. Methods: Electronic medical records were reviewed for COVID-19 patients discharged from 3 NYMA hospitals in March 2020. Follow up data regarding medical status, ability to perform activities of daily living and functional status was also obtained from patients via phone call. The Chi-square, Fishers exact test and t-tests were used to analyze the data. Results: 349 patients were included in the analysis. The hospital readmission rate was 10.6% (58.8% for pulmonary reasons) and did not differ by race. 74.3% of readmissions were <14 days after release. The post-discharge mortality rate was 2.6%. Hypertension was the most common comorbidity (43%). There was a statistically significant association between mortality and number of comorbidities (p=<0.0001). 82% of patients were contacted by phone. 66.6% of patients returned to pre-COVID baseline function in ≥1 month. As a result of information obtained on the follow up phone call, 4.2% of patients required “escalation” to another provider. Conclusion: Discharging COVID-19 patients without prearranged follow up was associated with high readmission and mortality rates. While the majority of patients recovered, prolonged weakness, lengthy recovery, and the need for additional medical intervention was noted. Further work to assess the effectiveness COVID-19 post-discharge programs is warranted.


Stroke ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chelsea Liu ◽  
David L. Roth ◽  
Rebecca F. Gottesman ◽  
Orla C. Sheehan ◽  
Marcela D. Blinka ◽  
...  

Background and Purpose: Life’s Simple 7 (LS7) is a metric for cardiovascular health based on the 7 domains of smoking, diet, physical activity, body mass index, blood pressure, total cholesterol, and fasting glucose. Because they may be targeted for secondary prevention purposes, we hypothesized that stroke survivors would experience improvement in LS7 score over time compared with people who did not experience a stroke. We addressed this hypothesis in the REGARDS study (Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke) cohort of Black and White adults enrolled between 2003 and 2007. Methods: Participants who had LS7 data at baseline, were stroke-free at baseline, had a 10-year follow-up visit, and either did not have a stroke or had an ischemic stroke >1 year before follow-up were included (N=7569). Among these participants, 149 (2.0%) had an adjudicated ischemic stroke between the LS7 assessments. LS7 scores were classified as 0 to 2 points for each domain for a maximum score of 14, with higher scores representing better health. Multivariable linear regression was used to test the association of ischemic stroke with change in LS7 score. Covariates included baseline LS7 score, age, race, sex, education, and geographic region. Results: The 149 stroke survivors had an average of 4.9 years (SD=2.5) of follow-up from the stroke event to the second LS7 assessment. After adjusting for covariates, participants who experienced an ischemic stroke showed 0.28 points more decline in total LS7 score ( P =0.03) than those who did not experience a stroke. Conclusions: Stroke survivors did not experience improvements in cardiovascular health due to secondary prevention after ischemic stroke. On the contrary, they experienced significantly greater decline, indicating the need for greater efforts in secondary prevention after a stroke.


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