Stroke patients tend to stay longer in one hospital compared to patients with other neurological disease.
After the introduction of 3 types of critical pathway dedicated for various severity of acute ischemic stroke in 1995, the average length of in-hospital days declined from 30.0 days (1993) to 15.3 days (1998), ie 49% reduction.
This reduction was achieved by the use of critical pathway and the hospital-hospital cooperation.
JoergensenHSNakayamaH: The effect of a stroke unit: Reduction in mortality, discharge rate to nursing home, length of hospital stay, and cost. A community-based study. Stroke26: 1178–1182, 1995.
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HashimotoYTerasakiT: Outcome and hospital-clinic cooperation in acute brain infarction. Jpn J Stroke21: 200–204, 1999.
