BMC Achieves Defect-free Designation by National Stroke Registry

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Medical Center (BMC) has been recognized by the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Registry for defect-free care for stroke patients. This designation demonstrates that a minimum of 85{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5} of stroke patients received all of the interventions for which they were eligible.

The Coverdell Hospital Collaborative awards were developed in 2009 to recognize participating hospitals, like BMC, for their achievements in improving the quality of care provided to stroke patients. BMC is one of 49 institutions in Massachusetts participating in the program, and has been involved in the Coverdell Hospital Collaborative since 2005.

The defect-free-care measure includes 10 stroke consensus measures, including thrombolytic therapy administered, antithrombotic therapy by end of hospital day 2, DVT prophylaxis, dysphagia screen, discharged on cholesterol-reducing therapy, discharged on antithrombotics, patients with a-fib receiving anticoagulation therapy, smoking-cessation advice and counseling, assessed for rehabilitation, and stroke education. Partial credit for this award is not given, as it is an all-or-nothing measure. Data from January to December of 2014 were analyzed for this award.

The Coverdell Hospital Collaborative is a stroke registry and quality-improvement initiative implemented as a partnership among the Mass. Department of Public Health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Registry, and the American Heart Assoc. Get with the Guidelines program.