Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery

Treatment Programs

University of Maryland Stroke Center and Brain Attack Team Top National Ranking

For More Information

See University HealthSystem Consortium's stroke benchmarking project results.

The University of Maryland Medical Center sets the standard for stroke care, according to a study from University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC), an alliance of academic health centers.

In a 2005 UHC benchmark review, the University of Maryland Medical Center ranked first of 32 hospitals in providing critical tests and time-sensitive treatments for stroke patients, leading to improved outcomes including cutting the death rate nearly in half.

The panel evaluated hospitals on their ability to provide comprehensive stroke care through a care "bundle," the concept that administering all required components of care to each patient provides the optimal outcome and that providing one component independently will not achieve as good a result.

Some of the elements evaluated as part of the stroke care bundle include:

Head CT within 25 minutes of patient's arrival in the emergency department
Clot-busting drugs (tPA) considered for patients arriving within three hours of symptom onset
Blood-thinning medication administered within 48 hours of patient arrival
Swallowing study to detect evidence of food and liquids going into stroke patients' lungs

The stroke care review also showed that this expertise in care bundling decreased the length of the patient's hospital stay and decreased the cost of hospitalization.

The benchmark review shows that University of Maryland Medical Center's Stroke Center and Brain Attack Team provide patients with the best care possible.

This page was last updated on: August 10, 2007.

For more information about the University of Maryland Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery, or to make an appointment, call the University Physicians Consultation and Referral Service at 1-800-492-5538 (patients) or 1-800-373-4111 (physicians).