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Stroke Patients Under Neurologists’ Care Have Better Outcomes
Medpage Today’s John Gever reports that individual’s suffering from stroke fair better if their primary care physician is a neurologist, stating they “were less likely to die or need a second hospitalization.”
While the study showed no significant differences in mortality rates while in the hospital, it did show that neurologists tend to keep patients in the hospital for a longer period than other physicians. Gever wrote “Neurologist-treated stroke patients had a 14% lower rate of 30-day mortality and a 7% lower rate of 30-day readmission, according to a review of Medicare records reported by Judith Lichtman, Ph.D., M.P.H., of Yale, at the American Academy of Neurology meeting.”
According to the article, “It’s possible that [the patients cared for by other specialists] may be more complex cases, maybe they had other acute events that were going on at the same time. That we haven’t been able to look at very closely,” Dr. Lichtman said.
