Pandya Examines AHA Stroke Guidelines’ Gains

CHDS faculty Ankur Pandya presented ongoing research in a recent seminar, Past and Future Value Gained Under the Get with The Guidelines – Stroke Quality of Care Initiative, looking at gains from the American Heart Association (AHA) ‘Get with the guidelines (GWTG) -Stroke’ guidelines launched in 2003.

Pandya and colleagues aimed to retrospectively estimate the gain from quality improvement in nine stroke quality indicators among US acute ischemic stroke patients, using a cost-effectiveness analysis framework. They also prioritized each quality indicator for future quality improvement efforts based on the prospective value gained from perfect implementation of that indicator. Using their cost-effectiveness modeling framework, they found that the value generated from indicators included in the GWTG initiative tripled from 2004-2018, driven by improvements in the implementation of the top four indicators. They found that prospective value would be driven by different indicators. Their cost-effectiveness framework can be generalized to other long-running quality improvement initiatives to quantitatively identify the key areas of past success and the highest priority areas for future improvement.

Learn more: Explore the AHA Get With the Guidelines Stroke website
Learn more: Read the related article, Prioritizing Quality Measures in Acute Stroke Care: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis