UPDATE

What’s the latest on the
Colorado Stroke Registry?

The following is an overview of the Colorado Stroke Advisory Board and the Colorado Stroke Registry. Additional information, including meeting minutes, mentor resources, and a location map with the stroke registry hospitals can be found at www.coloradostroke.org.

What is the Stroke Registry?
A statewide initiative specifically designed to improve stroke care in Colorado.

Background
In 2002 the Colorado State legislature created the Stroke Advisory Board. The board evaluated stroke care throughout Colorado, including urban, rural, and frontier communities. The board consisted of a variety of stakeholders including hospital representatives, nonprofit organizations, and stroke survivors.

In 2003 the board published the report “Stroke in Colorado.” This report contains several recommendations for improving stroke care, one of which is to establish a stroke registry. The report is available at http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/pp/cvd/Stroke_Rpt.pdf.

After the report was published, the members of the board remained involved in this program’s development on a voluntary basis. Today, the group is referred to as the Colorado Stroke Advisory Board (COSAB). Aside from the three stroke registry employees (Program Director, Assistant Program Director, Medical Advisor), COSAB members continue to participate on a voluntary basis. COSAB is the group that oversees the stroke registry.

In 2005, Amendment 35 passed—Tobacco Tax Increase for Health-Related Purposes. As a result of this, funds became available through a competitive grant process at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. COSAB submitted a grant in the fall of 2005 to fund the registry. In early 2006 grant funds were awarded to COSAB for the development of the registry.

The Amendment 35 grant funding for the stroke registry spans three years:
Year 1 - Jan 06 to June 06 6 hospitals to be recruited
Year 2 - July 06 to June 07 20 hospitals to be recruited
Year 1 - July 07 to June 08 30 hospitals to be recruited

Goal: 56 hospitals recruited in 3 years

Hospital participation
Hospital participation in the stroke registry is voluntary. Participation is open to all Colorado hospitals, regardless of hospital size, bed count, patient volume, or geographic location.

Hospitals that are interested in participating in the stroke registry are eligible to receive a onetime payment of $5,000 to assist in offsetting the costs of implementing the registry.

Stroke Registry Program
The stroke registry program is the Get With The Guidelines (GWTG) Stroke, offered through the American Heart Association. This is an internet based program that allows for benchmarking, stroke interventions, acute management, secondary prevention, patient education materials, and automated reports.

COSAB and Stroke Registry Today
COSAB has created bylaws, a strategic plan, and officers have been elected.

The stroke registry is in the second year of the grant. The status of the registry, including funding, after July 1, 2008, is not known. COSAB officers are meeting with a variety of stakeholders to determine long-term options.

The Colorado Stroke Registry is a unique model in that it is the first of its kind in the country—voluntary participation with support through grant funds. States that have a stroke registry (e.g., Georgia, Massachusetts) are funded through the Coverdell model via the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). In recent weeks, stroke registry staff members have been participating in the CDC Coverdell conference calls. It is anticipated that this collaboration will continue into the future.

A white paper on the stroke registry can be found here:

For additional information:
Contact Paul Murphy at the Colorado Stroke Registry, 720.974.4091, pmurphy@coloradostroke.org, www.coloradostroke.org

Paul Murphy works closely with Dr. Don Smith, who wrote the initial column on the Colorado Stroke Program in Colorado. Paul and his counterpart, Corey Baldwin, are responsible for working with all the hospitals in Colorado to engage them in this important project.