October 1 , 2004

MGH Stroke Service to be surveyed

A s a recognized leader in stroke care, the MGH Stroke Service will participate in a statewide effort by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) to designate centers for the care of acute stroke patients. Because acute stroke care varies widely from hospital to hospital, the DPH drafted new regulations for these specialized centers of care. These regulations stipulate that a hospital must go through an approval process to become a Primary Stroke Service in order to receive acute stroke patients by ambulance.

As part of the approval process, the MGH Stroke Service will participate in a site survey Oct. 7. DPH surveyors will spend time in areas where stroke patients are evaluated, such as the Emergency Department, in the Neurology ICU and the Ellison/White 12 Neurology units. Some of the criteria the surveyors will be evaluating include: verification that the hospital provides 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week acute stroke services such as imaging, laboratory, pharmacy and clinical evaluations; presence of written protocols of care and evidence these protocols are in use; administrative recognition of the stroke effort with a formally designated stroke team; collection of data on each acute stroke patient; and education of staff and the community about acute stroke warning signs and treatment options.

"This new DPH program in stroke certification is a great opportunity to improve the care of stroke patients across the entire Commonwealth," says Lee H. Schwamm, MD, the associate director of MGH Acute Stroke Services, who has been leading this effort at the MGH. "We look forward to preparing the MGH to meet this very important goal."

For more information about the MGH Stroke Service, visit www.stopstroke.org To contact the Acute Stroke Consult team, page beeper #34282.