Cerenovus Launches Initiatives to Address Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Stroke Care
Cerenovus (Irvine, CA), part of Johnson & Johnson MedTech (Warsaw, IN), recently announced initiatives to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in stroke treatment along the continuum of care.
The company has launched an online Digital Health Equity Hub that contains its published research and interactive assets. The Hub is designed to assist hospital leadership with implementing strategies and evaluating progress to close the gap on disparities in stroke care.
On the Hub, the company released an executive report, “Recommendations Aimed at Closing the Racial and Ethnic Disparity Gap in Stroke Care,” by Shelly Ikeme, PharmD, MPH, et al. Dr. Ikeme is Head of the Health Economics and Market Access sector at Cerenovus.
The investigators reviewed established hospital-level programs and best practices. They offer recommendations for stroke care centers to effectively address and reduce disparities in stroke access and care, stated the company.
According to Cerenovus, this new review presents a robust framework of best practices that is designed to overcome imbalances in stroke care, marking a significant stride towards health equity.
Cerenovus stated that this review builds on a 2022 systematic literature review that identified racial disparities in key points along the continuum of stroke care, from onset of stroke symptoms to treatment. The 2022 review by Dr. Ikeme et al, “Evidence-Based Disparities in Stroke Care Metrics and Outcomes in the United States: A Systematic Review,” was published in Stroke. It is also available via the Cerenovus Digital Health Equity Hub.
The investigators drew from the challenges identified in that review, particularly those faced by communities of color in preventing and treating strokes.
Among the summary of best practices, the new review outlines several hospital and health system–oriented modifiable factors that can be influenced by adopting evidence-based practices to close the racial and ethnic disparities gap in stroke care and outcomes. These factors include referral, evaluation and transfer patterns; care process pathways; use of emergency medical services; language interpretation; and time to treat.
The company advised that hospitals and health systems may request unpublished data specific to their hospital and/or market by connecting with the Cerenovus team online.
“This review steps beyond the identification of disparities by providing recommendations to close racial and ethnic gaps in stroke care,” commented neurosurgeon William Humphries, MD, MPH, in the Cerenovus press release. “The framework provides best practices from established programs to serve as a guide for care centers, enabling them to enhance stroke care outcomes for all patients, irrespective of their race or ethnicity.”
Mahesh Jayaraman, MD, President of the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery, added, “These often-overlooked disparities have significant implications on health outcomes and quality of life for countless patients in underserved populations. By addressing disparities directly, Cerenovus is not just acknowledging a problem, but actively working towards a solution to create a more equitable healthcare landscape.”
Neurointerventional news coverage produced in conjunction with Endovascular Today.