New York State Coverdell Stroke Quality Improvement Program Enlists Hospitals to Improve Stroke Care and Patient Outcomes
ALBANY, N.Y. (September 15, 2016) - The New York State Department of Health (DOH) and Health Research Inc. have expanded the New York State Coverdell Stroke Quality Improvement Program by recruiting 56 hospitals to participate in a federally funded initiative dedicated to improving systems of care for acute stroke. Stroke remains the fourth leading cause of death in New York accounting for 6,000 deaths annually, and is the leading cause of adult disability.
New York's expanded Coverdell program will support the development of comprehensive, regional stroke systems to improve stroke care and patient outcomes by encouraging best practices in primary care, community education, emergency medical services, hospital, and post-acute care related to stroke.
New York is one of only nine states to receive grant funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program (PCNASP), which works to improve care delivery across the clinical continuum and enhance patient outcomes. Among the goals of the program is to improve timeliness of acute stroke care, improve recovery, reduce complications, lower hospital readmissions and reduce the rates of early mortality.
New York's Coverdell Stroke Program is in the midst of a five-year grant that was awarded in 2015 after receiving a similar three-year grant from the CDC in 2012. The Coverdell program is named after Georgia Senator Paul Coverdell who died of a stroke in 2000 while in Congress. The program provides resources to states to guide quality improvement interventions for stroke care.
"I'm pleased to see that we have 56 hospitals that have signed on to participate in New York's Coverdell Stroke Program," said Commissioner of Health Dr. Howard Zucker. "In doing so, they are pledging to work with their partners on improving all levels of stroke care, and helping New Yorkers recover from what is often a life-altering event."
All 56 of the New York Coverdell hospitals have committed to engage their partners in EMS and post-acute settings to better coordinate care provided to stroke patients. Coverdell hospitals have also agreed to collect and report data in key performance areas to the DOH and CDC. The 56 hospitals include both academic medical centers and community hospitals and cover all five regions of New York State.
In addition to being Coverdell hospitals, all 56 hospitals participate in New York's Stroke Designation program, meaning they are ready to provide a basic level of acute stroke care at a moment's notice. New York has a total of 120 designated stroke centers.
During the initial funding period in 2012, the New York Coverdell Program focused on improving components of in-hospital care for stroke, including processes to ensure the timely delivery of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), a therapy intended to dissolve clots responsible for stroke. Over the course of the initiative, Coverdell hospitals demonstrated significant improvements in the timely delivery of tPA. Between October 2014 and June 2015, the percentage of stoke patients receiving tPA within 60 minutes of admission increased from 60.9% to 69.9% in the Coverdell hospitals. In 2014, New York had 32,071 strokes and 9,447 transient ischemic attacks, known as mini-strokes, which account for 41,518 hospital discharges annually.
For more information about the New York State Coverdell Stoke Quality Improvement and Registry Program visit http://www.health.ny.gov/facilities/hospital/stroke_centers/coverdell_resources.htm.
For more information about the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program visit http://www.cdc.gov/DHDSP/programs/stroke_registry.htm.
Coverdell Participating Hospitals
- Albany Medical Center Hospital
- Albany Memorial Hospital
- Arnot Ogden Medical Center
- Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center - Concourse Division
- Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center
- Brooklyn Hospital Center
- Buffalo General Medical Center/Gates Vascular Institute
- Ellis Hospital
- Faxton-St. Lukes Healthcare
- Forest Hills Hospital
- Franklin Hospital
- Geneva General Hospital
- Highland Hospital
- Huntington Hospital
- Jamaica Hospital Medical Center
- John T. Mather Memorial Hospital
- Kenmore Mercy Hospital
- Kings County
- Lenox Hill Hospital
- Long Island Jewish Medical Center
- Mercy Hospital of Buffalo
- Mercy Medical Center
- Metropolitan Hospital Center
- Mount Sinai Beth Israel
- Mount Sinai Brooklyn
- Mount St. Mary's Hospital
- New York Presbyterian – Lawrence Hospital
- Newark-Wayne Community Hospital
- North Shore University Hospital
- Northern Westchester Hospital
- NYU Langone Medical Center
- NYU Lutheran Medical Center
- Orleans Community Health – Medina Hospital
- Phelps Memorial Hospital Association
- Plainview Hospital
- Rochester General Hospital
- Samaritan Hospital
- Sisters Of Charity Hospital
- South Nassau Communities Hospital
- Southampton Hospital
- St. Barnabas Hospital Health System
- St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center
- St. Francis Hospital
- St. Joseph Hospital – Bethpage
- St. Peter's Hospital
- Staten Island University Hospital
- Stony Brook University Hospital
- Strong Memorial Hospital
- Syosset Hospital
- Upstate University Hospital
- Vassar Brothers Hospital
- Westchester Medical Center
- Westchester Medical Center – Mid-Hudson Regional Hospital
- White Plains Hospital Center
- Winthrop University Hospital
- Wyckoff Heights Medical Center