Marked Regional Variation in Acute Stroke Treatment Among Medicare Beneficiaries
Therapies Friday, August 28th, 2015Stroke, 2 June 2015
Background and Purpose—Little is known about how regions vary in their use of thrombolysis (intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator and intra-arterial treatment) for acute stroke. We sought to determine regional variation in thrombolysis treatment and investigate the extent to which regional variation is accounted for by patient demographics, regional factors, and elements of stroke systems of care.…
Conclusions—There is substantial regional variation in thrombolysis treatment. Future studies to determine features of high-performing thrombolysis treatment regions may identify opportunities to improve thrombolysis rates. Read more.