Improving patient care, along with morbidity and mortality outcomes is a challenge for acute stroke care in the rural sector. However, having partnerships through a hub and spoke model provides rural hospitals with access to resources, specialists, protocols and essential clinical support.
Partnerships with Primary and Comprehensive Stroke centers facilitate continuity of care from the rural setting to higher levels of care, creating optimal patient outcomes and reducing clinical risk. Primary and Comprehensive Stroke Certification programs in urban areas has unequivocally demonstrated improved patient outcomes. Stroke Ready Certification has been recognized by the Brain Attack Coalition as essential for the rural setting.
Certification is a formal process that provides an objective assessment, based recognized standards of care that include the requirement to collect and submit measures. Stroke Ready Certification compliments existing stroke frameworks, thereby providing a structured and integrated care delivery approach for managing acute stroke patients in the rural setting.
This white paper helps to shed some light on these issues.
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