Barzilai University Medical Center

134 Research Day 2020 Barzilai University Medical Center 95 UTILITY OF "ALARM STROKE CODE" IMPLEMENTATION - EXPERIENCE OF THE BARZILAI UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER (BUMC) Elena Dorodnicov 1,2 , Viki Nasi 3 , Natalya Bilenko 4,5 , Ron Milo 1,2 1 Department of Neurology, Barzilai University Medical Center; 2 Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben- Gurion University of the Negev; 3 Quality Assurance Unit, Barzilai University Medical Center; 4 Ministry of Health, Barzilai University Medical Center; 5 Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev Background "Alarm stroke code" (ASC) activating a multi-disciplinary team work has been implemented at the BUMC since January 2016. ASC activates "green corridor" starting with pre-hospital notification to facilitate orchestrated management of patients with acute ischemic stroke from hospital arrival to tissue Plasminogen Activator (tPA) administration on the CT table. Hypothesis Implementation of "Alarm Stroke Code" improves patient care. Objectives Assessing the effect of ASC implementation on quality of care of patients with acute stroke. Methods Prospective data collection on all consecutive patients with acute stroke admitted to BUMC from January 2015 to December 2016: demographic characteristics, time to CT and time to tPA administration. We compared indicators of quality of management before and after ASC implementation. Chi-square for categorical variables and non-parametric median rank test for continuous variables were used. Results Of the 565 stroke patients admitted in 2015, 226 (40%) arrived in the time window for tPA treatment, of whom 80 were treated with tPA after exclusion of non-eligible patients. Of the 1102 patients that were admitted in 2016, 568 (59%) arrived in the time window, of whom 114 were treated with tPA. Median Door to CT time was 41.5 min in 2015, compared to 40.5 min in 2016 (p=n.s.). Proportion of patients who underwent CT within 25 min was 38% in 2015 and 54.1% in 2016 (p=0.04). Median Door-to-Needle-Time decreased from 57 min in 2015 to 48.5 min in 2016 (p=0.56). Percentage of patients who were treated with TPA in the "Golden Hour" was 55% in 2015 and 67.1% in 2016 (p=0.05). Conclusion Alarm Stroke Code is an effective tool contributing to improved quality of stroke care in BUMC.