Virtual Intervention Stroke Initiative (VISION)

Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

Status: Not yet enrolling

Conditions: Ischemic Stroke; Acute Ischemic Stroke

Treatments: Other: Virtual assessment

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05875389

20230211-01H

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this clinical trial is to determine if patients admitted to a primary stroke centre, such as the general internal medicine service of the Ottawa Hospitals General Campus, for acute ischemic stroke would benefit from a scheduled virtual assessment with a stroke neurologist to review investigations, results, and evaluations to identify stroke etiology, propose appropriate therapy, and guide decision-making and multidisciplinary assessment, similar to services provided to patients admitted to comprehensive stroke centres, such as the Civic Campus of the Ottawa Hospital.

Full description

Patients admitted to primary stroke centres do not have access to the same level of stroke expertise on site as do patients admitted to comprehensive stroke centres, resulting in increased length of stay with implications for access to stroke rehabilitation. Virtual access to stroke experts has been used in hyperacute stroke care through programs such as Ontario Telestroke, but this has not been routinely used for acute inpatient management. The investigators propose a system to provide virtual access to the stroke neurology team to patients admitted with stroke in a primary stroke centre. Patients at the General Campus of the Ottawa Hospital are currently admitted to Internal Medicine; this includes scheduled virtual assessment with a stroke neurologist and advanced practice nurse/interdisciplinary support to review investigations, results, and evaluations to identify stroke etiology, propose appropriate therapy, and guide decision-making and multidisciplinary assessment, similar to services provided to patients admitted to the Civic Campus. This will be developed with the assistance of Internal Medicine and will utilize technologies and assessment tools and strategies already being used for provision of virtual care in other settings. The goal of this project will be to prove that patients in primary stroke centres, with the assistance of virtual care, can benefit from the expertise available at comprehensive centers throughout their stay, and that this will result in an improved quality of care with benefits for patients, hospitals, and the community.

Enrollment: 80 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• 18 years of age or older
• admitted to the general internal medicine service of the Ottawa Hospital General Campus for acute ischemic stroke
• able to participate in video assessments with necessary accommodation/facilitation for participation (particularly if stroke results in physical or communication deficits)

Exclusion criteria

• patients who are unable, in the judgement of the study team or treating team, to participate in video assessments

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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80 participants in 1 patient group

Virtual assessment

Experimental group

Description:

virtual assessment with a stroke neurologist/advanced practice nurse, with interdisciplinary support, to facilitate the care of patients admitted to primary stroke centres using existing tools for remote evaluation and review.

Treatment:

Other: Virtual assessment