OPTIMISING ACCESS aims to ensure the highest level of quality in acute stroke treatment across Canada.
Our vision is to reduce disparity in the access and efficiency of treatment for stroke patients that live in rural/remote communities compared to those that live in large urban centers.
National Acute Stroke Registry
To meet our aims, we need to understand the current performance of our regional and provincial acute stroke system. A national acute stroke treatment registry (OPTIMISING ACCESS Registry) will be created.
This first-of-its kind national acute stroke treatment registry will be deployed to all stroke hospitals across Canada, ensuring key process, clinical, and demographic data is collected for all patients that receive stroke treatment.
Identifying Disparities
Data collected in the OPTIMISING ACCESS registry will provide an overview of the stroke landscape in Canada. It will enable understanding of the disparity between patients arriving first to an EVT center compared to those arriving first to a peripheral stroke center that is only capable of thrombolysis treatment.
Support Quality Improvement
Utilizing a collaborative approach, OPTIMISING ACCESS aims to undertake quality improvement initiatives to improve stroke process and treatment outcomes across Canada. This include improving the proportion of patients that receive EVT when first presenting to a peripheral stroke center; reduction of the time spent in the peripheral center (Door-In-Door-Out time) prior to transfer to the EVT-capable center, and reduction of time to treatment (door-to-needle time for thrombolysis treatment and door-to-puncture time for EVT).