TELEstroke for Comprehensive Stroke Care in Acute Stroke Ready HospiTals (TELECAST) is a prospective single-center study evaluating guideline-based acute ischemic stroke care at an Acute Stroke Ready Hospital (ASRH) pre- and post-initiation of a specialist telestroke inpatient rounding service. TELECAST will study the following clinical endpoints: diagnostic stroke evaluation, secondary stroke prevention, health screening and evaluation, stroke education, inpatient complications, and stroke recurrence rates. Additional relevant non-clinical data will include patient and provider satisfaction scores, transfer patterns, and a cost analysis.

Telestroke is a validated intervention that improves the triage and emergent treatment of acute stroke, specifically related to the use of intravenous thrombolysis. Effective urgent stroke evaluation and secondary stroke prevention is also essential to decrease the risk of recurrent stroke, however, there have been no studies to date examining the use of telestroke to improve delivery of non-emergent inpatient stroke care per American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines.

Currently, access to stroke specialist expertise is limited resulting in significant disparities in stroke care. Previous publications have identified that patients in rural areas may receive sub-optimal stroke care that does not follow accepted guideline recommendations. Telestroke is a cost-effective mechanism to deliver specialist stroke care to hospitals that do not have in-person stroke consultation available. The aim of TELECAST is to determine whether specialist telestroke inpatient rounding improves guideline-based acute stroke care when compared to non-specialist stroke care.

The primary outcome of TELECAST is a composite score comprising 4 categories: diagnostic stroke evaluation, secondary stroke prevention, health screening and evaluation, and stroke education. Individual components of the primary outcome were primarily derived from AHA stroke guidelines. Additional outcome measures include individual analyses of the components of the primary outcome as well as the complication rate, stroke recurrence rate, transfer rate, patient and provider satisfaction levels, and a cost-analysis. All outcomes will be assessed at 1 year post-implementation, with data accruement beginning after a 3-month lead in phase.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 18 and above
• Patients with the primary diagnosis of ischemic stroke admitted to Fairview Ridges Hospital
• Evidence of stroke on MRI or CT or clinical diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke by the treating stroke service

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients less than 18 years old
• Patients who leave the hospital against medical advice
• Patients with goals of care that impact the stroke evaluation (i.e. comfort measures)
• Patients who are felt to have an alternative diagnosis
• Patients who are transferred for higher-level stroke care such as endovascular thrombectomy or decompressive craniectomy

All patients admitted with a diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke at a participating ASRH two years before and one year after implementation of the telestroke inpatient service.