Operations Research for stroke care systems: An opportunity for The Science of Better to do much better

Stroke is one of the three most common causes of death around the world and the sixth most common cause of disability worldwide. Building effective and efficient stroke care systems is a critical step in improving patient outcomes in the prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of stroke. Despite what seems like a great potential for Operations Research (often referred to as The Science of Better) to contribute to the design and operation of effective and efficient stroke care systems, OR contribution so far has been limited. The objectives of this paper are to review the field of stroke care systems for OR professionals, to illustrate existing OR contribution to stroke care systems and to propose an agenda for how The Science of Better could better contribute to the effort of designing and operating stroke care systems.