Impact of Stroke Center Certification on Mortality After Ischemic Stroke [Clinical Sciences]

This study aimed to understand whether PSC certification reduced stroke mortality.Methods—We examined Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries aged ≥65 years who were hospitalized between 2009 and 2013 for ischemic stroke. Hospitals were classified into 3 groups: new PSCs, the hospitals that received initial PSC certification between 2009 and 2013 (n=634); existing PSCs, the PSCs certified before 2009 (n=785); and non-SCs, the hospitals that have never been certified as PSCs (n=2640). Multivariate logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards model was used to compare the mortality among the 3 groups.Results—Existing PSCs were significantly larger than new PSCs as reflected by total number of beds and annual stroke admission (P
Source: Stroke - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Health Services, Quality and Outcomes, Cerebrovascular Disease/Stroke Original Contributions Source Type: research