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Hendry Medical Center TeleStroke Case Study

By: | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | December 20th, 2024

Hendry's dedicated team aimed to keep stroke patients close to home while providing top-tier care, especially as stroke volumes increased with their expanded ED.
Hendry partnered with us to implement EMS pre-notification, stroke kits, and training, achieving DTN reductions.
Following a 41% reduction in DTN times and other improvements, Hendry earned its Acute Stroke Ready certification in 2023.

ABOUT HENDRY MEDICAL CENTER

This hospital is a 25-bed Critical Access Hospital located in Central Florida. The team had a drive to keep their admitted patients local and near family while providing the gold standard in stroke care. With a recently built
expansion of their emergency department, the team was noting an increase in volumes in their stroke population.

THE CHALLENGE

During 2022, there were variations in door-to-needle (DTN) times. The stroke program team evaluated the current stroke flow process and identified opportunities for improvement. Their goal was to adopt nationally recommended best practices and time targets. Some of these issues stemmed from late stroke symptom recognition and inconsistent stroke alert process.

THE SOLUTION

Based on the hospital’s current stroke workflow, the following key strategies were identified:

  • Coining a stroke champion to educate team members about workflow and best practices.
  • Training/case-specific feedback was given to the nursing staff with a focus on early recognition of stroke symptoms in the triage space.
  • EMS pre-arrival notification with concurrent TeleSpecialists notification for any BEFAST+ case identified in the field.
  • Utilization of a “stroke kit,” including thrombolytics and blood pressure medications.
  • Early mixing on verbal orders for identified thrombolytic candidates.
    Initiation of a “pit stop” to include patient weight, labs, IV start, verification of LTKW, and blood pressure verification.

THE OUTCOME

In addition to a 41% reduction in DTN average, this hospital also noted a 50% reduction in activation mean (between Q2-Q3 2024), 11% increase in EMS cases activated under goal (between Q2-Q3 2024), 67% increase in DTN cases <30 minutes (between 2023-2024), and 54% reduction DTN median (between 2023-2024). All their success with the program led them to receive their Acute Stroke Ready certification in 2023 from The Joint Commission. The team is also looking to expand their inpatient neurology services to enhance their patient experience by keeping some stroke cases locally.

DOWNLOAD THE CASE STUDY

Nattasha Acevedo, MD

Dr. Acevedo received her medical degree from the Ponce School of Medicine in Puerto Rico and did her neurology residency at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. She went on to do a clinical neurophysiology fellowship at Emory School of Medicine in Atla nta, Georgia and then joined private practice in Fort Myers, Florida. She currently resides in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She likes running, paddle boarding and spending time with family.
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Bernadette Borte, MD

Dr. Borte received her medical degree from St. Matthew’s University School of Medicine in Grand Cayman. She completed her neurology residency at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, Iowa. Her areas of interest include inpatient neurology and acute stroke. When not working, she enjoys spending time outdoors with her family. Dr. Borte joined the TeleSpecialist family in March of 2019.
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Mazen Almidani, MD

Dr. Almidani is board certified in pediatrics by the American Board of Pediatrics and board certified in epilepsy, as well as neurology with special  qualification in child neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.  Dr. Almidani is happily married with 4 children. His oldest son has autism and his daughter has complicated seizures; both were a drive for him to become a neurologist. Dr. Almidani enjoys soccer, running and spending time with his family. He is very involved with his sons’ therapy and helping with daily challenges. He is double board certified in Pediatric and Adult Neurology and Epilepsy. He sees children and adults. He also participates in charities for children in Syria who may be underprivileged and/or affected by the war. Dr. Almidani joined TeleSpecialists in August 2020.
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Amanda Cheshire, MD

Dr. Cheshire received her medical degree from the University of Louisville School of Medicine in Louisville, Kentucky. She completed her neurology residency at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. She did a fellowship in neurophysiology at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Dr. Cheshire is double board certified in neurology and clinical neurophysiology. She enjoys traveling, reading and music. She currently resides in Viera, Florida.  Dr. Cheshire joined TeleSpecialists in June 2019.
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Jessica Floyd, MD

Dr. Floyd completed her neurology residency at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida followed by fellowship training in clinical neurophysiology with focus in EEG and epilepsy at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina. She has particular interest in hospital neurology and patient education as well as the blossoming specialty of lifestyle medicine. She strives to take advantage of every encounter with patients and medical staff to empower them to do their own research into how daily thoughts, choices, and habits can add up to create greater and longer-lasting brain and neurologic health for ourselves and our loved ones. She lives in Florence, South Carolina with her awesome husband of 13 plus years and three beautiful children. She is an avid yogi, astrologer, and lover of food and all things neurology! Dr. Floyd joined the TeleSpecialist family in July 2017.
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Nancy Futrell, MD

Dr. Futrell received her medical degree from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. She also did her neurology residency at the University of Utah as well as a research fellowship in cerebral vascular disease at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida. She currently resides in Salt Lake City, Utah. She has authored 2 books and 50 peer reviewed papers. 
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Rebecca Jimenez-Sanders, MD

Dr. Jimenez Sanders received her undergraduate degree from Emory University, and her medical degree from the San Juan Bautista School of Medicine in Puerto Rico. She completed her neurology residency at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida, where she also did a specialized headache medicine and facial pain fellowship. She currently resides in Tampa, Florida with her husband and her two daughters. She is also fluent in Spanish and Italian languages, and enjoys photography, baking, boating, and biking.
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Cory Lamar, MD

Dr. Lamar received his medical degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. He completed his internship and residency at Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston Salem, North Carolina. Following residency, he completed a clinical fellowship in neurophysiology, with a concentration in epilepsy. He currently resides in Florida and enjoys outdoor activities.
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Clifford Meyers, MD

Dr. Meyers received his medical degree from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island and his MBA from the Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. He completed his neurology residency at the University of Rochester, where he also did a neurophysiology fellowship. Dr. Meyers resides in Webster, New York with his wife and daughter. When not doing teleneurology, he enjoys playing sports with his wife and daughter.
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Tao Tong, MD

Dr. Tong received her medical degree from the University of Miami School of Medicine in Miami, Florida. She completed her neurology residency at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida, where she also did a neuromuscular/EMG fellowship.  She currently resides in College Station, Texas. Dr. Tong is married with two boys. She enjoys spending time with her family, traveling and reading.
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Shubhangi Chumble, MD

Dr. Chumble attended BJ Medical School. She is a board certified neurologist with a subspeciality interest in sleep medicine. Dr. Chumble did her residency at Howard University in Washington DC and has practiced neurology since 2001 in private and corporate settings. She lives in Melbourne, Florida and loves the sunshine state. Her hobbies include yoga, meditation, cooking , traveling and meeting new people. She also loves to do stained glass, pottery and painting. She joined TeleSpecialists in June 2019.
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