The “Pit Crew” Approach to Endovascular Therapy for Large Vessel Strokes: A Success Story

We all know that for any complex problem, there is rarely a simple solution. Endovascular stroke, with its many moving parts, is no exception. Trying to mobilize multiple disciplines and processes simultaneously (like a pit crew does in a NASCAR race) during one of the most time-sensitive emergencies is no easy task. But, as you may remember from a previous blog post I wrote, parallel processing of tasks is a key element to reducing treatment times.

Recently, a team of providers was able to produce absolutely fascinating results by adopting this parallel-processing quality-improvement (QI) approach. (See the full study here: The ‘pit-crew’ model for improving door-to-needle times in endovascular stroke therapy: a Six-Sigma project). The results — including door-to-puncture time of 2:31 prior to the QI approach, and 1:33 after process change, which translates to over 100 million brain cells spared — are especially impressive during off-peak or weekend hours, when uniting a team can be even more difficult. But the care teams that are best at achieving results like those in the study share a few key habits including:

• Establishing well-defined protocols and specific roles for each team member.
• Effectively and consistently running parallel processes simultaneously.
• Establishing baselines, and then specific goals for each process.
• Constantly monitoring and running process improvement for consistent performance.

Even with all of these fantastic improvements, we still have to ask ourselves: "Where can we do better?"

Imagine utilizing the approach in the study, but instead of paging on-call teams and calling back when they don’t respond, the entire care team is activated with a simple button push.

Imagine knowing who on your team has responded, immediately.

Imagine seeing real-time data on your phone while your team is assembling.

Imagine knowing exactly where your patient is in the process, all while seeing a ticking clock that helps maintain a sense of urgency.

The possibilities are endless when you give a driven team of providers a way to clearly communicate. And when patient lives are on the line, can you really afford not to? It's time to Stop Stroke. 

Learn how Pulsara can help improve your stroke care--and your organization's financial health in the process.