Kentucky Neuroscience Institute

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 8, 2012) - The following column appeared in the Lexington Herald-Leader on Sunday, May 6.

HealthCare alliance improves stroke care

Hundreds of unique health care providers have been educated through network sponsored programs. There is also frequent on-site education at affiliates provided by teams from UKHC, and Emergency Medical Services focused educational offerings.

Telemedicine is important to the network for education purposes, and many stroke network educational activities have been provided via the Kentucky Telehealth Network.

Relationships are built through on-site visits and network meetings. The network also builds better relationships and better care through community outreach activities. Thousands have been screened for stroke risk as a direct result of network activities.

Hundreds of elementary school students have been taught about stroke recognition, healthy living, and risk factor prevention.

Quality of care initiatives include: improving turnaround times for laboratory tests in stroke patients, reducing the amount of time it takes to get brain scans, and more efficient and faster stroke treatment guidelines for physicians. We want to improve stroke care speed, safety and outcomes.

Recently the network teamed up with Norton Healthcare in Louisville, and we have funding to expand co-sponsored network services to include a registry.

The network registry, when fully functional, may capture data on several thousand stroke patients per year around the state. Registry data will initially be used to monitor quality of care and study health care differences within Kentucky and may have implications for stroke care far beyond Kentucky.

Current affiliate hospitals include UK hospitals, Norton Healthcare hospitals, Hazard Appalachian Regional Healthcare and all other ARH hospitals in Kentucky, Georgetown Community Hospital, Rockcastle Regional Medical Center, Harrison Memorial Hospital, St. Claire Regional Medical Center, Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital, and Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center.

For more information about the Stroke Affiliate Network, call 1-800-333-8874 or visit UKHealthCare.UKY.edu / stroke and click on “Stroke Affiliate Network.”

Dr. Michael R. Dobbs is UK HealthCare Stroke Program and Stroke Affiliate Network Director and an associate professor of UK College of Medicine.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 2, 2012) - May is stroke awareness month and to help individuals understand their risk for stroke, UK HealthCare is offering free stroke screenings throughout the month at various locations across the UK HealthCare Campus.

Screenings allow participants to learn their risk of stroke and get tips on how to reduce risk factors.

Screenings will take place at the following times:

• UK Chandler Hospital North Lobby (by the courtyard leading to the dentistry building), 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Thursday, May 3
• Health Education Center, Chandler Hospital Pavilion A, first floor, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, May 8
• Kentucky Clinic (3rd floor across from the deli), 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., May 17
• Good Samaritan Hospital Cafe, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 22

According to the American Stroke Association:

• About 795,000 Americans each year suffer a new or recurrent stroke. That means, on average, a stroke occurs every 40 seconds.
• Stroke kills more than 137,000 people a year -- that's about one of every 18 deaths. Stroke is the he No. 4 cause of death in the U.S.
• On average, every 4 minutes someone dies of stroke.
• About 40 percent of stroke deaths occur in males, and 60 percent in females.
• The 2006 stroke death rates per 100,000 population for specific groups were 41.7 for white males, 41.1 for white females, 67.7 for black males and 57.0 for black females.
• Americans will pay about $73.7 billion in 2010 for stroke-related medical costs and disability.

UK HealthCare also offers a stroke risk card and education sheet online. For more information, or to download these forms, visit http://ukhealthcare.uky.edu/stroke/.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 10, 2012) — The UK HealthCare Kentucky Neuroscience Institute Stroke Program has once again been recognized by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association with their "Get With The Guidelines" Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.

The award recognizes UK HealthCare's commitment and success in implementing excellent, evidence-based care for stroke patients.

To receive the award, a hospital must achieve at least 85 percent adherence to all "Get With The Guidelines" stroke quality achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month intervals, and achieve 75 percent or higher compliance with at least six of 10 stroke quality measures. These measures include appropriate use of life-saving medications and lifestyle/behavior modifications, all aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients.

“With a stroke, time lost is brain lost," said Dr. Michael R. Dobbs, director of UK HealthCare’s Stroke Program. "The 'Get With The Guidelines' Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award demonstrates our commitment to being among the top health care providers in the country for aggressive, proven stroke care.  We actually do much better than the 85 percent adherence required for the award, which is probably part of the reason why we became the busiest stroke center in Kentucky. "

“UK HealthCare and the UK Stroke Program are to be commended for a commitment to implementing standards of care and protocols for treating stroke patients,” said Dr. Lee H. Schwamm, chair of the "Get With The Guidelines" national steering committee and stroke neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. “The full implementation of acute care and secondary prevention recommendations and guidelines is a critical step in saving the lives and improving outcomes of stroke patients.”

"Get With The Guidelines" emphasizes the “teachable moment” — the time soon after a stroke, when patients are most receptive to guidance from health care professionals. Studies demonstrate that patients who are taught how to manage their risk factors while still in the hospital reduce their risk of a second heart attack or stroke.

Through "Get With The Guidelines," customized patient education materials are made available at the point of discharge, based on patients’ individual risk profiles. The take-away materials are written in an easy-to-understand format and are available in English and Spanish. In addition, the "Get With The Guidelines" patient management tool gives health care providers access to up-to-date cardiovascular and stroke science at the point of care.

Stroke remains one of the leading causes of death and serious, long-term disability in the United States and in Kentucky.  

For more information, visit http://heart.org/quality.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 1, 2012) — Dr. Michael Dobbs, vice chair of the Department of Neurology and director of UK's Stroke Program, was the guest on yesterday's "UK at the Half," which aired during the UK vs. Louisville Final Four game that was broadcast on radio. 

"UK at the Half" airs during halftime of each UK football and basketball game broadcast on radio and is hosted by Carl Nathe of UK Public Relations and Marketing.

To hear the "UK at the Half" interview, click on the play button below. To view a transcript of the "UK at the Half" interview, click here.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 15, 2012) -- The Kentucky Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH) System and UK HealthCare have announced that all eight ARH hospitals in Kentucky are now part of the UK HealthCare/Norton Healthcare Stroke Affiliate Network, providing stroke treatment and prevention to even more patients in Eastern Kentucky.

"At UK HealthCare we have a mission and a responsibility to improve access to high-quality care for all Kentuckians," said Dr. Michael Karpf, UK executive vice president for health affairs.  "Thanks to partnerships with community health care providers such as the eight ARH hospitals, we are able to team up to make this a reality further benefiting the people of Eastern Kentucky."
 

Appalachian Regional Healthcare is a not-for-profit health system serving 350,000 residents across Eastern Kentucky and southern West Virginia. Kentucky ARH hospitals are located in Harlan, Hazard, McDowell, Hyden, Middlesboro, South Williamson, West Liberty and Whitesburg.

"We are excited about this affiliation with UK HealthCare. This affiliation will afford us the ability to improve the health of the communities we serve," said ARH President and CEO Jerry W. Haynes. "Awareness of symptoms and timely treatment for stroke is crucial to successful recovery and that is why we believe this intensive focus on stroke treatment and prevention is a very important service to provide for our patients in Eastern Kentucky."

Operating 10 hospitals, multi-specialty physician practices, home health agencies, HomeCare Stores and retail pharmacies, ARH is the largest provider of care and single largest employer in southeastern Kentucky and the third largest private employer in southern West Virginia.

"By educating members of the community and emergency medical services (EMS) personnel in the region, we work together to provide valuable information about recognizing the signs of stroke and the importance of early treatment," said Dr. Michael R. Dobbs, director of the UK Comprehensive Stroke Program and director of the UK HealthCare/Norton Healthcare Stroke Affiliate Network. “Our affiliate hospitals teach us about their communities and their patients. Meanwhile, we provide access to the resources and knowledge we have as an academic medical center.”