Table 3.

Specifications of guideline-recommended performance measures

Performance measure of IS care	Performance measure definition for eligible patients*
Acute performance measures
Intravenous rtPA <4.5 hours	Intravenous rtPA in patients who arrive within 3.5 hours after initial symptom onset and treated within 4.5 hours
Endovascular treatment <6 hours	Mechanical endovascular reperfusion therapy for acute IS caused by arterial occlusion of proximal anterior circulation within 6 hours after admission
Early antithrombotics	Antithrombotic therapy prescribed within 2 days of hospitalisation, including antiplatelet or anticoagulant therapy
DVT prophylaxis	Patients at risk for DVT (non-ambulatory) who underwent DVT prophylaxis by the end of hospital day 2, including pneumatic compression, warfarin sodium, heparin sodium or new oral anticoagulants
Dysphagia screening	Dysphagia screening prior to any oral intake
Rehabilitation assessment	Assessed for stroke rehabilitation services
Performance measures at discharge
Antithrombotic medication	Antithrombotic therapy prescribed at discharge
Anticoagulation for AF	Anticoagulation prescribed at discharge for patients with AF or atrial flutter documented during the hospitalisation
Antihypertensive medicines for patients with hypertension	Antihypertension medication prescribed at discharge for patients with history of hypertension disease or hypertension disease documented during the hospitalisation
Hypoglycaemic medication for diabetes mellitus	Hypoglycaemic medication prescribed at discharge for patients with history of diabetes mellitus or diabetes mellitus documented during the hospitalisation
Statin for lowering LDL≥100 mg/dL	Statin prescribed at discharge if LDL≥100 mg/dL, if patient treated with lipid-lowering agent prior to admission, or LDL not documented, hypoglycaemic medication for diabetes mellitus
Smoking cessation	Smoking cessation intervention (counselling or medication) prior to discharge for current or recent smokers
Stroke education	Stroke education provided to patient and/or caregiver, including all five components: modifiable risk factors, stroke warning sign and symptoms, how to activate emergency medical services, need for follow-up and medications prescribed

*Eligible patients are those without any medical contraindications (eg, treatment intolerance, excessive risk of adverse reaction, patient/family refusal, or terminal illness/comfort care only) documented as reasons for non-treatment for each of the applicable measures. Acute performance measures, except for the rtPA measure, exclude patients who died before the end of day 2 of the hospital stay. Performance measures at discharge exclude patients who died during hospitalisation.

AF, atrial fibrillation; DVT, deep vein thrombosis; IS, ischaemic stroke; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; rtPA, recombinant tissue plasminogen activator.