Oral Presentation Australian and New Zealand Stroke Organisation Conference 2025

Use of registry data to drive improvements in acute stroke care: Insights from the Australian Stroke Clinical Registry (123184)

Julie L Morrison 1 , Thao Tran 1 , Emma F Campbell 1 , Sabnam Acharya Sigdel 1 , Jot Ghuliani 1 , Helen Dewey 2 , Natasha A Lannin 3 4 , Sandy Middleton 5 6 , Dominique A Cadilhac 1 7
  1. Stroke Division, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
  2. Eastern Health , Box Hill , Victoria, Australia
  3. Department of Neuroscience, Monash University , Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  4. Alfred Health , Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  5. Nursing Research Institute, St Vincent’s Health Australia (Sydney) and Australian Catholic University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  6. School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedic , Australian Catholic University , Sydney, NSW, Australia
  7. Stroke and Ageing Research, School of Clinical Sciences , Monash University , Clayton, Victoria, Australia

Background/Aims

Quality improvement efforts should be informed by data. The Australian Stroke Clinical Registry (AuSCR) supports hospitals to improve the quality of acute stroke care by providing regular summary data with benchmarks. Our aim was to understand the impact of AuSCR in supporting hospital-based quality improvement activities.

Methods

An annual feedback survey was issued from 2022 to 2025 between February and May to hospitals participating in the AuSCR. Respondents completed the survey electronically (Qualtrics software). Reminders to complete the survey were sent via email and in AuSCR newsletters.  Multiple responses were received from some hospitals. Descriptive analysis was used for closed questions and thematic analysis for open text responses.

Results

Annual survey response rates varied from 57% to 84% of active hospitals.  Most hospitals reported undertaking quality improvement activities in the previous year (range 78% [2023] - 93% [2025]).  Most respondents used AuSCR data to prioritise their quality improvement activities, with the annual scorecards and hospital performance reports the most frequently utilised (77% in 2025). Each year, more than 75% hospitals indicated that participating in the AuSCR has led to improvements in care at their hospital (79% in 2025).  The greatest areas of focus were swallow screening/assessment (range 21% – 60%) and improving access and timeliness of thrombolytic therapy (range 15% – 55%).

Conclusion

Hospitals participating in the AuSCR are actively using their data for quality improvement projects and are working to improve the quality of their acute stroke care.