Collaboration in Stroke Systems of Care: Mitchell S.V. Elkind, MD, MS, MPhil

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The president of the American Heart Association commented on the integral aspect of collaboration between specialists and providers when it comes to poststroke care.

“Having a team approach to stroke care and having a stroke system of care is wonderful, but we need to do a better job of implementing it and reducing the health care inequities and disparities that lead to increase in risk of stroke and recurrent stroke among certain populations in the U.S., particularly the Black, Latin-X, and Indigenous communities.”

In conversation with NeurologyLive, Mitchell S.V. Elkind, MD, MS, MPhil, president of the American Heart Association (AHA), discussed stroke systems of care and the importance of addressing health care inequities that sometimes inhibit providers’ ability to implement a team approach. Elkind, who is also chief of the division of neurology clinical outcomes research and population sciences at Columbia University, addressed the need for a checklist to set up a plan for care and facilitate ease of transition from the acute-care setting to rehabilitation, and finally to the outpatient/primary-care setting.

Elkind’s comments coincide with the recent publication of a scientific statement from the AHA and the American Stroke Association (ASA), which provides an outline for poststroke care, with emphasis on the role of the primary care provider. Entitled, “Primary Care of Adult Patients After Stroke,” the statement follows the publication of updated 2021 guidelines for prevention of secondary stroke and transient ischemic attack by the AHA/ASA.