Advanced clinical guidelines and best practices

As a Comprehensive Stroke Center accredited by The Joint Commission, the UMMC Stroke Center meets all the requirements for advanced patient care. This includes standardized care based on clinical best practices.

What is standardized care?

Standardized care means giving all patients with the same conditions the same treatment. It is based on national guidelines that have been carefully developed using the latest medical research. These guidelines are also called best practices, meaning that they have been identified as the care most likely to lead to the best possible outcome.

Rapid response protocol

The UMMC Stroke Center initiates standardized care for stroke patients immediately, in some cases before they arrive. For patients who arrive by ambulance, EMS personnel activate the stroke response team by notifying UMMC that they are bringing a stroke patient to the ER. At that call, all members of the 24/7 stroke response team move quickly to be ready and waiting in the ER when the patient arrives. The same team responds to patients in the ER and patients already in the hospital who experience a stroke.

All patients suspected of having a stroke are fast-tracked to CT imaging, where a stroke diagnosis can be assessed. The CT scan can also show whether a stroke is due to a blockage, an ischemic stroke, or a brain bleed, which is a hemorrhagic stroke. After the specific diagnosis is confirmed, the appropriate treatment can be started.

About 87% of strokes are ischemic, caused usually by blood clots. For this type of stroke, it’s very important to start medications called thrombolytics, or “clot busters” as soon as possible. UMMC’s Stroke Center gives thrombolytics quickly to eligible patients. The team has received awards for this for multiple years.