Thursday, April 10, 2025
4/10/2025
Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program - Florida is the third most populous state in the U.S. and has one of the largest populations of adults over the age of 65. After years of steady decline, age-adjusted stroke death rates in Florida increased by 24% from 2016 to 2022. In 2022, stroke was the fourth leading cause of death in Florida, accounting for a total 16,372 deaths and corresponding to a rate of 47.6 deaths per 100,000 population. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiological Research (WONDER) shows a crude stroke mortality rate of 83.7 per 100,000 among Florida adults in 2018-2021. Among Floridians aged 65 years and older, stroke prevalence was double that of the general population. Among patients hospitalized with stroke, the majority (two-thirds) were age 65 or older and half were age 70 or older. The number of elderly individuals diagnosed with stroke is anticipated to increase in the coming decades. Florida continues to lead the U.S. in increasing stroke mortality. With legislation enacted in 2017 requiring stroke centers to report to the Florida Department of Health’s Florida Stroke Registry (FSR), the completeness of the FSR has grown and presently, there are 180 stroke centers reporting key acute stroke performance metrics through the American Heart Association/American Stroke Associations (AHA/ASA) Get with The Guidelines-Stroke (GWTG-S) program. Moreover, the FSR has been able to link hospital data to pre-hospital emergency management services (EMS) data and outcomes data through state administrative datasets, permitting better understanding of transitions of care for stroke management, improving the quality of stroke care, and informing health policy and planning decisions in Florida. With DP-24-0060 Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program, Florida will develop and engage a statewide learning collaborative (LC) consisting of representation from seven Florida stroke coalitions whose membership includes volunteer stroke center physicians, stroke coordinators, EMS professionals, community health workers (CHW), mobile integrated health (MIH) providers (also known as community paramedics), and researchers. Florida stroke coalitions are located across the state of Florida and include census tracts with a crude stroke prevalence rate that is 1.5 times the county-level crude prevalence rate. Facilitated by the FSR, participation in the LC will aim to develop best practices which will impact and inform interventions, guidelines, and policy designed to 1) enhance data tracking and reporting of clinical and social service needs, 2) promote the implementation of a team based approach across the stroke continuum of care, and 3) increase community-clinical communication to support transitions of care for highest stroke risk populations, including those with uncontrolled hypertension. The FSR’s capacity to link data collected across the pre-hospital, in-hospital, and post-hospital settings can identify gaps and trends in stroke prevention, quality of care, and outcomes. The LC will strategize Plan-Do-Study- Act (PDSA) initiatives that will increase and improve the use of clinical and social services for those at highest risk for stroke.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).