Topics and findings of selected major publications
| Schwamm 200542 | Recommendations from the ASA Task Force to establish stroke systems to improve patient outcomes in the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of stroke in the USA. |
| Reeves 20059 | Results from four PCNASR pilot prototypes showed a minority of acute stroke patients are treated according to established guidelines. |
| Schwamm 200614 | Requirements for the design and implementation of a sustainable national registry for stroke quality improvement. |
| Schwamm 200918 | Implementation of GWTG is associated with increased adherence to all stroke performance measures regardlesss of hospital size, geography and teaching status. |
| Schwamm 20105 | A presidential advisory from the AHA/ASA reviewing a decade of efforts to reduce death and disability due to stroke. |
| Schwamm 2010107 | Quality of care improved for black, white and Hispanic patients in GWTG hospitals, though black patients still received fewer evidence-based care processes. |
| Fonarow 201015 | Analysis of the first 1 million stroke and TIA admissions in GWTG showed improvements in quality of care, length of stay and inhospital mortality over time. |
| Smith 201087 | Development of a risk score for inhospital ischaemic stroke mortality derived and validated within the GWTG programme. |
| Fonarow 201150 | Fewer than one-third of patients treated with IV tPA had DTN times ≤60 min. Provided some of the first evidence that shorter DTN times were associated with improved outcomes and greater safety, calling for a targeted initiative to improve timeliness of reperfusion. |
| Lewis 201125 | Use of anticoagulation among stroke patients with atrial fibrillation increased to very high levels in GWTG hospitals. |
| Reeves 201121 | Improvements in quality care associated with the GWTG programme were related to better care rather than better data documentation. |
| Reeves 201219 | Comparison of patient and hospital characteristics among Medicare beneficiaries hospitalised with ischaemic stroke showed GWTG stroke admissions are representative of the national Medicare stroke population. |
| Messé 201248 | Use of tPA between 3 and 4.5 hours increased after publication of the ECASS III in GWTG hospitals. |
| Fonarow 201289 | Adding stroke severity as measured by the NIHSS improved model discrimination for hospital 30-day mortality. |
| Saver 201354 | Earlier thrombolytic treatment was associated with reduced mortality and symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage and higher rates of independent ambulation at discharge and discharge to home. |
| Schwamm 201366 | GWTG hospitals saw nearly doubled tPA administration from 2003 to 2011 with expansion to include more patients with mild symptoms, non-white race/ethnicity and older age. |
| Ellrodt 201317 | GWTG improves the value of care through rapid and sustained improvements in quality, narrowing the treatment gaps for women, younger and older patients and ethnic/racial minorities. |
| Fonarow 201465 | DTN times for tPA administration and clinical outcomes after stroke improved significantly after implementation of the Target: Stroke quality improvement initiative. |
| Cronin 201474 | Patients meeting ECASS III exclusion criteria are often treated in the 3–4.5 hour window without worse outcomes. |
| Xian 201539 | Warfarin treatment was associated with improved clinical outcomes among stroke patients with atrial fibrillation. |
| Reeves 201530 | Documentation of NIHSS has improved in GWTG hospitals but is higher for patients who are thrombolysis candidates. |
| Song 201631 | Medicare beneficiaries in GWTG hospitals had improved functional outcomes at discharge and reduced postdischarge mortality compared with their matched counterparts in unaffiliated hospitals. |
AHA/ASA, American Heart Association/American Stroke Association; DTN, door-to-needle; GWTG, Get With the Guidelines; IV TPA, intravenous tissue plasminogen activator; NIHSS, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale; PCNASR, Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Registry.