Background and purpose: Improving door-to-needle times (DNTs) for thrombolysis of acute ischemic stroke patients improves outcomes, but participation in DNT improvement initiatives has been mostly limited to larger, academic medical centers with an existing interest in stroke quality improvement. It is not known whether quality improvement initiatives can improve DNT at a population level, including smaller community hospitals. This study aims to determine the effect of a provincial improvement collaborative intervention on improvement of DNT and patient outcomes.
Results: Two thousand four hundred eighty-eight ischemic stroke patients received thrombolysis in the pre- and postintervention periods (630 in the post period). The mean age was 71 years (SD, 14.6 years), and 46% were women. DNTs were reduced from a median of 70.0 minutes (interquartile range, 51-93) to 39.0 minutes (interquartile range, 27-58) for patients treated per guideline (P<0.0001). The percentage of patients discharged home from acute care increased from 45.6% to 59.5% (P<0.0001); the median 90-day home time increased from 43.3 days (interquartile range, 27.3-55.8) to 53.6 days (interquartile range, 36.8-64.6) (P=0.0015); and the in-hospital mortality decreased from 14.5% to 10.5% (P=0.0990).
Conclusions: The improvement collaborative was likely the key contributing factor in reducing DNTs and improving outcomes for ischemic stroke patients across Alberta.
Authors: Noreen Kamal, Thomas Jeerakathil, Jillian Stang, Mingfu Liu, Edwin Rogers, Eric E. Smith, Andrew M. Demchu, Muzaffar Siddiqui, Balraj Mann, Jennifer Bestard, Eddy Lang, Elaine Shand, Magali Benard, Lisa Collins, Kevin Martin, Corinna Hartley, Marnie Reiber, Shelley Valaire, Kelly J. Mrklas, Michael D. Hill
Noreen Kamal - noreen.kamal@dal.ca
Project complete