A Rural Hospital's Journey to Becoming a Certified Acute Stroke-Ready Hospital

ProblemFor many stroke patients, rural emergency departments are the first point of medical care to stop brain cell death. We identified a need to meet standards to improve outcomes for stroke care.MethodsAn interdisciplinary Stroke Continuous Process Improvement Committee was formed. We conducted a gap analysis to address current stroke care processes. Chart audits were performed, and strategies to meet the requirements for recognition as an Acute Stroke Ready Hospital (ASRH) were implemented. The ASRH guidelines guided our certification journey.ResultsASRH certification was achieved. In addition, stroke care outcomes such as door-to-computed tomography results, door-to-international normalized ratio results, door teleneurology consultation, and door-to-needle time have improved.Implications for PracticeAchieving certification makes a strong statement to the community about a hospital's efforts to provide the highest quality in stroke care services. Becoming a certified ASRH promotes quality of patient care by reducing variation in clinical processes.