Abstract TMP107: Impact of a Stroke Transitional Care Navigator at a Comprehensive Stroke Center

Abstract

Background: The Stroke Transitional Care Navigator (STCN), was implemented at our Comprehensive Stroke Center (CSC) in January 2017 in order to bridge care from the inpatient to outpatient setting. The STCN nurse meets with patients prior to discharge to address secondary stroke risk factors and discuss the follow up plan in an effort to improve patient outcomes. The purpose of this study was to determine whether implementation of a STCN improved compliance with follow up stroke neurology care and reduced unplanned readmissions and Emergency Department (ED) visits. Methods: Retrospective data review, included ischemic stroke or ICH patients, 18 or over, discharged from February 2017 through February 2018. Subarachnoid hemorrhages and hospice discharges were excluded. Patients were grouped into a “Followed’ cohort if they had documented contact with the STCN prior to discharge or within 30 days; otherwise they were categorized as “Not Followed”. Outcomes of interest were percentage of patients compliant with attending an outpatient visit with a stroke provider within 45 or 120 days post-discharge and percentage of unplanned readmission and ED visits 30 days post-discharge. Analyses comparing those with and without STCN contact were performed using Fisher’s Exact test and Pearson’s chi square test. Results: There were 689 patients that met inclusion criteria with 47.2% (n=325) in the Followed and 52.8% (n=364) in the Not-Followed cohorts. The Followed cohort was more likely to comply with attending a follow-up visit within 45-days (67.2% vs. 32.8%, p<.001) as well as 120 days of discharge (61.0% vs 39.0%, p<.001). No differences were found between the Followed and Not Followed cohorts for readmissions (9.5% vs. 11.5%, p=.394) or ED visits (9.5% vs. 10.2%, p=.783). Conclusion: The STCN had a significant positive impact on patients returning to clinic for follow up stroke neurology care. Though follow up care has been shown to reduce readmission rates in some studies, in this study there was no impact on 30-day readmissions or ED visits. Given the unique, individualized care and coordination provided by the STCN, which is very well received by patients and providers, qualitative measures may be more useful in the future to determine the effectiveness of the STCN.