Background:
Primary Stroke Centers (PSC) provide better acute stroke care than non-PSC hospitals, including faster times to imaging and lytic treatment, and higher rates of lytic delivery. Nationwide less than 1 in 3 hospital has achieved this designation. We aimed to determine the extent to which the better performance at PSC is driven by improvements within hospitals after PSC designation versus better baseline hospital care among facilities seeking PSC certification.
Methods:
From 2005 to 2012, the NIH Field Administration of Stroke Therapy -Magnesium (FAST-MAG) Phase 3 clinical trial enrolled subjects with likely stroke within 2 hours of onset in a study of prehospital start of a neuroprotective agent. Subjects were routed to 59 community and academic centers in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. Of the original 59 centers, 39 eventually achieved PSC status during the study period. Each subject was classified as enrolled at a PSC before certification (pre-PSC), at a PSC post certification (post-PSC), or at a hospital that never achieved PSC (non-PSC).
Results:
Of 1700 cases, 529 (31%) were enrolled at pre-PSC, 856 (50%) at post-PSC, and 315 (19%) at non-PSC hospitals. Mean time in minutes from ED arrival to first scan was 33 minutes at post-PSC, 47 minutes at pre-PSC and 49 at non-PSCs [p<0.001 by Mann-Whitney]. Among cases of cerebral ischemia (CI) [N=1223], rates of TPA utilization were 43% at post-PSC, 27% at pre-PSC and 28% at non-PSC hospitals [p<0.001 by X2]. Time in minutes from ED arrival to thrombolysis in treated cases was 71 at post-PSC, 98 at pre-PSC, and 95 at non-PSC hospitals [p<0.001 by Mann-Whitney]. Hospitals that achieved PSC showed improvements in pre-PSC and post-PSC performance on door to imaging time, from 47 to 33 minutes [p=0.014]; percent TPA use in CI, from 27% to 43% [p<0.001], and reduced door-to-needle times, from 98 to 71 minutes [p=0.003]. There was no difference in time to imaging [47 vs. 49 minutes], time to thrombolysis [98 vs. 95 minutes] and percent TPA use [27% vs. 28%] between pre-PSC hospitals and non-PSC hospitals.
Conclusions:
Better performance of Primary Stroke Centers on acute care quality metrics is primarily driven by a beneficial impact of the PSC-certification process, and not better performance prior to seeking PSC status.
Effects of centralizing acute stroke services
