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Neurohospitalists achieved significantly shorter LOS for patients with ischemic stroke compared to community-based neurologists. These data suggest that neurohospitalists can also improve compliance with quality metrics necessary for Joint Commission Primary Stroke Center designation.

ObjectiveTo reduce door-to-angiographic reperfusion (DTR) time to 120 minutes for patients presenting with acute ischemic stroke attributed to anterior circulation large-vessel occlusion amenable to endovascular mechanical thrombectomy.Patients and MethodsPatients treated with mechanical thrombectomy before (April 10, 2015, through April 11, 2016) and after (April 12, 2016, through May 10, 2017) implementation of a multitiered notification system were studied. Lean process mapping was used to assess inefficiencies with multidisciplinary triage. A 3-tiered paging platform, which rapidly alerts essential personnel of the acute ischemic stroke team at advancing decision points, was introduced.ResultsSixty-two patients were analyzed before and after implementation (34 vs 28, respectively). Following intervention, DTR time was reduced by 43 minutes (mean DTR, 170 minutes vs 127 minutes; P=.02). At 90-day follow up, 5 of the 28 patients in the postintervention cohort (19%) had excellent neurologic outcomes, defined as a modified Rankin Scale score of 0, compared to 0 of 34 (0%) in the preintervention cohort (P=.89). Reductions were also seen in the length of stay on the neurocritical care service (mean, 6 vs 3 days; P=.006), and total hospital charges for combined groups (mean, $100,083 vs $161,458; P<.001).ConclusionThe multitiered notification system was a feasible solution for improving DTR within our institution, resulting in reductions of overall DTR time, neurocritical care service length of stay, and total hospital charges.