Abstract WP57: Who Needs to Compete When You Can Collaborate? Celebrating 25 Years of Successful Stroke Care

Abstract

Background: In 2004, Kansas City nurses partnered with the American Stroke Association to provide stroke education to health care providers and the community. Over time, the goal shifted to stroke systems of care. Today this group is known as the Bistate Stroke Consortium, comprised of 34 hospitals and rehab facilities. The group continues to work together to facilitate their mission in a spirit of collegiality and collaboration throughout two states. The communities have also benefited as evidenced by an increase in Primary and Comprehensive Stroke Centers in the region. Methods: In 2021, this Consortium formed a community outreach and stroke leader development sub-committee. Multiple innovative projects were created for both community outreach and stroke leader development to help with educating our region about strokes, celebrating successes, and highlighting best practices from our group. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of these projects. Results: This group placed an emphasis on community and leader education. The group distributed over 10,000 resources in the region and gained substantial community viewership. The group members of the Bistate group provide over 130 hours of education each year including best practices and benchmarked data from GWTG. Notably, during this same period, these two states experienced improvements in stroke related mortality and hospitalizations. The increasing number of patients with stroke symptoms arriving at the hospital via EMS indicates a clear preference for calling 911 and the impact of community education. While the precise factors contributing to these improvements are multifaceted, it is likely that the efforts of this group have played a pivotal role in influencing these positive outcomes. Conclusion: The Bistate Stroke Consortium collaborates to improve patient care, community education, and supports Stroke Coordinators. Stroke mortality and hospitalizations are decreasing in the Consortium's region. Timely stroke recognition by non-healthcare providers and presentation to appropriate healthcare systems are essential to improve outcomes. Continued focus on community outreach and program development is crucial to the Consortium's success.