**BYLINE:** Memorial Hermann Health System
**Memorial Hermann Houston Mobile Stroke Unit earns** **Mobile Stroke Unit Certification by DNV Healthcare USA Inc.**
**Newswise — HOUSTON (December 6, 2024) –** The Memorial Hermann Houston Mobile Stroke Unit (MSU) recently became the first in the world to earn Mobile Stroke Unit Certification by DNV Healthcare USA Inc. (DNV Healthcare), an approved health care accreditation organization through Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
To qualify for certification, DNV Healthcare stipulates a Certified Mobile Stroke Unit must function as a “specialized ambulance equipped with the personnel, medication, telecommunication equipment, and imaging capability to evaluate, diagnose and treat acute stroke in the prehospital setting. It is equipped with a CT scanner, which is key in the diagnosis of strokes as well as be able to carry and administer the clot-busting treatment of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) or Tenecteplase (TNK), before patients arrive at the hospital. These specialized ambulances have made the diagnosis and treatment of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke possible right at the emergency site.”
“The Houston Mobile Stroke Unit has established itself as the standard of care for stroke treatment in Houston,” said James Grotta, MD, a neurologist and the director of stroke research for the Clinical Institute for Research and Innovation at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center. “This certification further validates our work and what we’ve proven- stroke patients have better outcomes when evaluated, imaged and treated at the site of the emergency before being transferred to the nearest hospital.”
According to DNV Healthcare, the Mobile Stroke Unit Certification program provides a comprehensive review of operations, quality and analysis of care provided by the MSU staff and program. Referencing published guidelines including American Heart/American Stroke Association recommendations, the MSU Certification program provides a comprehensive validation of the emergent delivery of stroke care.
The certification is effective for three years and requires an annual survey and Memorial Hermann’s continual compliance with the DNV Healthcare Mobile Stroke Unit process.
For the past decade, the MSU team operated a research trial comparing clinical outcomes in patients eligible for a clot-busting drug who received MSU care as compared with standard care by emergency medical services (EMS). The findings indicated that early intervention by the MSU almost doubled the odds of the patients being discharged directly to home after their stroke. Additionally, patients treated on the MSU had less long-term disability, such as paralysis and inability to speak, reducing overall health care costs.
The MSU recently updated its imaging and treatment capabilities thanks to philanthropic support from the Memorial Hermann Foundation. It is treating one to two patients each day, with more than 1,500 patients treated since the service launched. The long-term goal is to expand the program and eventually to add more units to serve more patients. Members of the MSU team instrumental in planning that expansion, as well as managing operations, include the leaders at Memorial Hermann Life Flight®. The air ambulance service holds the Texas Department of State Health Services license for operation of the MSU as a specialty ambulance. Life Flight also manages all educational aspects related to the MSU, from new hire and continuing education training for the nurses and paramedics who staff the MSU to Emergency Vehicle Operator Course training.
For more information on Memorial Hermann, visit [www.memorialhermann.org](http://www.memorialhermann.org).
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