Neurology Final Report - Fall 2019 Cycle 

The U.S. costs for diagnosis and treatment for neurological conditions are estimated at $800 billion per year. Stroke is a common neurological condition with approximately 795,000 people suffering from one each year and costing an estimated $46 billion annually in the United States. In stroke, the timing of treatments is vital. In particular, earlier treatment of ischemic strokes (87% of all strokes) with thrombolytics are associated with improved outcomes. During the Fall 2019 measure evaluation cycle, NQF assembled a multistakeholder Standing Committee with 17 individuals to evaluate two maintenance measures for early stroke care: 1) the proportion of stroke patients who arrived within 2 hours of their symptoms who received a head Computed Tomography (CT) or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) within 45 minutes of emergency department (ED) arrival, and 2) in adult patients who received thrombolytics for stroke, the proportion who received the treatment within 60 minutes of ED arrival. The Neurology Standing Committee recommended both measures for continued endorsement. Due to the situation around the COVID-19 pandemic, commenting periods for the Fall 2019 cycle were extended from 30 days to 60 days. Neither measure received comments and both were subsequently evaluated by the Consensus Standard Approval Committee (CSAC) on July 28, 2020. The two measures evaluated in the Fall 2019 cycle were approved for continued endorsement by CSAC and did not receive any appeals.