Georgia Coverdell Stroke Registry
Coverdell Registry Background and Purpose
The Georgia
Coverdell Acute Stroke Registry (GCASR) was established in 2001 as a prototype
project involving 46 hospitals in Georgia and funded by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC). At that time, implementation was carried out by
the Emory University School of Medicine. Full implementation and incorporation
into the State’s Division of Public Health began in 2005. Named in honor of the
late
Senator Paul Coverdell of Georgia, who died of a massive stroke in 2000, the
primary goal of the registry is to improve the care of acute stroke patients in
the hospital setting. This program addresses quality improvement in multiple
areas of stroke care, from rapid screening, diagnosis, and intervention for
patients experiencing an acute stroke, to secondary prevention measures such as
blood pressure control, smoking cessation, and treatment of elevated cholesterol
to reduce the incidence of recurrent stroke after hospital discharge. In
addition, the program will also help improve the use of rehabilitation services
for those who have experienced an acute stroke, in an effort to reduce long-term
disability due to stroke. Both the GCASR and the
Stroke and Heart Attack Prevention Program (SHAPP) are components of the
State of Georgia Cardiovascular Health Initiative, which is a part of a national
effort funded by the CDC to reduce heart disease-and stroke-related morbidity
and mortality.
For uncertain
reasons, states in the southeastern U.S. have the highest incidence and
mortality of stroke; as a result, this area of the U.S. is commonly referred to
as the
stroke belt.
Currently,
Georgia is among the top states in the country for the number of hospitals that have obtained
Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations’ (JCAHO)
Primary Stroke Center Certification.
Participation in the GCASR has facilitated the process of stroke center
certification for many of these hospitals, and it is anticipated that many more
hospitals will benefit from the GCASR in their endeavors to become
JCAHO-certified stroke centers.
Goals
-
Increase quality improvement through collaborative efforts among
participant hospitals.
-
Lower the stroke morbidity experienced in Georgia.
-
Enhance the effectiveness of secondary care and prevent recurrent
strokes.
-
Develop protocols to guide physician care with effective stroke
management.
-
Develop effective methods to care for acute stroke patients.
Participating Hospitals
The Georgia Coverdell Acute Stroke Registry (GCASR) initially enrolled 26 hospitals in late 2005. Together, these hospitals care for one-third of the acute stroke patients hospitalized in Georgia each year. In mid-2006, additional hospital enrollment began, and by the end of 2006, there were
52 hospitals participating in the registry, which provided a coverage of more than half of the acute stroke admissions in Georgia per year. Based on future funding, we are planning to enroll more hospitals in 2007.
Benefits of the Registry
Benefits for the participating hospitals and their patients include monthly registry-wide
telephone conference calls with other participating hospitals and Coverdell
staff, monthly Coverdell newsletters, annual meetings to exchange Best
Practices, and individualized monthly telephone consultations and quarterly
visits by qualified Quality Improvement consultants from the
American Heart Association.
In addition, staff from each participating hospital is provided training in
Advanced Stroke Life Support through the
University of Miami’s ASLS Emergency Medical Skills Training Course. This
training teaches emergency assessment and management of acute stroke to all
levels of healthcare providers, from Emergency Medical Services personnel to
Hospital and Emergency Department nurses and physicians.
More importantly,
the Registry benefits patients directly by offering real-time feedback to
hospitals that covers patient-related Quality of Care Indicators. Selected
patient care information on each stroke admission is entered into an online data
collection tool, and real-time analysis provides feedback to each hospital
related to the quality of care that their patients are receiving. Hospitals can
also compare their performance on quality indicators with other hospitals using
the “Get
With The Guidelines - Stroke” database. Up-to-date guidance on standards of
care is provided to caregivers through the online tool as well. In addition,
patient education resources, published by the
American Stroke Association and by the Georgia Department of Community Health, are available at no charge to the patient or hospital. Improvements
in quality of care are tracked on a monthly basis by the GCASR and feedback is
provided back to the hospitals related to their Quality Indicator performance.
Coverdell Partners
The Georgia
Coverdell Acute Stroke Registry is a partnership among a number of groups and
organizations, all of whom have the goal of improving the quality of care of
acute stroke patients in Georgia, with the ultimate hope of reducing the deaths
and disability due to stroke for all citizens in Georgia. The partners include:
In addition, the
Georgia Coverdell
Stroke Advisory Committee, made up of healthcare leaders who are engaged
in all aspects of the care of acute stroke patients, acts in an advisory role,
helping to direct the growth of the GCASR as well as maximize its impact
throughout the state. Finally, the Georgia Department of Community Health,
Division of Public Health and the GCASR are active partners in the
Tri State Stroke Network, a three-state partnership among Georgia, North
Carolina, and South Carolina, that is dedicated to improving stroke prevention
and control by increasing public awareness of the signs and symptoms of stroke,
raising awareness of the need to treat stroke as a medical emergency, and
addressing the geographic disparity in stroke deaths in the Tri-State area.
Data and Publications
Stroke and Coverdell-related publications can be
found here
To Participate
If you are
interested in having your hospital become a Coverdell Hospital, please contact
Kerrie Krompf (Emory University School of Medicine) or
Dr. Andrea Winquist (Georgia DHR, Division of Chronic Disease, Injury, and Environmental Epidemiology).
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