Team efforts improve stroke outcomes

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A recently unveiled program to improve the outcomes of ischemic stroke patients at Stanford Hospital has brought home two key messages for David Tong, assistant professor of neurology, who helped spearhead the effort.

First, simple elements of good care - such as preventive measures and patient education - can affect patient outcomes as significantly as dramatic, high-tech interventions. Second, efforts to improve patient care yield the best results when several disciplines work together, maintaining frequent, open communication.

"We've seen that if you work with the hospital staff as a group, you can create an integrated system that works really well," said Tong, co-chair of the team that created the "Saving Our Strokes" program as a quality-improvement project. "When people are cooperative and focused on a common goal, it's relatively easy to accomplish."