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SENATE DOCKET, NO. 481 FILED ON: 1/16/2023
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1342
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Brendan P. Crighton
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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act to develop a coordinated stroke care system.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Brendan P. CrightonThird Essex 1 of 2
SENATE DOCKET, NO. 481 FILED ON: 1/16/2023
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1342
By Mr. Crighton, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1342) of Brendan P. Crighton for
legislation to develop a coordinated stroke care system. Public Health.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 1396 OF 2021-2022.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
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An Act to develop a coordinated stroke care system.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 Chapter 111C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby
2amended by inserting the following new section:-
3 Section 11A. (a) The department shall develop a statewide coordinated stroke care
4system. At a minimum, the department, by regulation and guidance, shall provide for (1) training
5in the FAST-ED stroke scale for EMS personnel; (2) in consultation with the Office of
6Emergency Medical Services and the EMS system advisory board established in section 13 of
7chapter 111C, regular reviews of data collected in the Primary Stroke Service Stroke Patient
8Management Tool and the Massachusetts Ambulance Trip Record Information System and
9recommended changes to collected data in alignment with best-practices and to strengthen
10patient access to stroke care; (3) annual validations of Primary Stroke Service hospitals and offer 2 of 2
11follow-up with said hospitals to ensure quality care; (4) an ongoing public education campaign to
12improve awareness of stroke symptoms.
13 (b) The department shall develop recommendations to augment data collected by the
14Primary Stroke Services Stroke patient Management Tool data to include, but not be limited to,
15discharge time upon a patient’s transfer from an emergency department to a tertiary hospital,
16capturing advance notification made by EMS of a patient’s stroke screening prior to said
17patient’s arrival at a hospital and the time elapsed between a patient’s arrival at a hospital and
18receipt of stroke treatment.
19 (c) The department shall develop recommendations for Primary Stroke Services
20designated hospitals to improve documentation of a stroke patient’s last known well time,
21symptom onset time, brain imaging date and time and date and time of alteplase initiation.
22 (d) Upon provision of relevant regulations and guidance pursuant to subsection (a) and
23the development of recommendations pursuant to subsections (b) and (c), the department may
24amend its point of entry plan to enable direct transport to an endovascular thrombectomy capable
25facility under conditions including, but not limited to, travel time as aligned with evidence-based
26and best practices, last known well documentation and the FAST-ED screening tool score.
27 (e) The department shall provide for EMS personnel user-friendly access to all statewide
28collected stroke metrics.
29 (f) The department shall provide hospital specific stroke data reports to all Primary
30Stroke Service designated hospitals.