Effective, time-critical intervention in acute stroke is crucial to mitigate mortality rate and morbidity, but delivery of reperfusion treatments is often hampered by pre-, in- or inter-hospital system level delays. Disjointed, repetitive and inefficient communication is a consistent contributor to avoidable treatment delay. In the era of rapid reperfusion therapy for ischaemic stroke, there is a need for a communication system to synchronise the flow of clinical information across the entire stroke journey.

The multi-disciplinary development team consisting of a software engineer, a stroke neurologist, NI, a policy advisor, diagnostic neuroradiologists, a neurovascular stroke nurse practitioner, junior medical doctors, and medical studentsdesigned an electronic communications platform, integrated between web browsers and mobile applications (android and iOS), to link all relevant members of the stroke treatment pathway. Development officially commencedSeptember 2017. Key features include: Mobile platform and Web browser integration: Multi-platform integration enables accessibility and familiarity for a wide range of users. A read receipt system is implemented to...

Code Stroke Alert is a platform that can be accessed by emergency medical services (EMS) and hospital staff, coordinating the flow of information during acute stroke care, reducing duplication and error in clinical information handover. Through acceleration of the numerous and complex logistical processes required to achieve reperfusion, Code Stroke Alert offers substantial potential benefit to improve patient outcome. Electronic data logs provide an auditable trail of relevant quality improvement metrics, facilitating quality improvement and research.

Code Stroke Alert will be freely available to health networks globally. The open-source nature of the software offers valuable potential for future development of plug-ins and add-ons, based on individual institutional needs. Prospective, multi-site implementation and measurement of clinical impact are underway.

Michael is an intern at Monash health with a special interest in programming, particularly in the way computer programs can aid clinicians in their current workflow as well as how they might shape the future of healthcare.

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