The Joint Commission launches new comprehensive stroke certification program.

requires varying degrees of care and intervention because it affects individuals in different ways. To improve the quality and safety of care for patients with complex strokes—who require more specialized diagnostic testing, interventions, and care than those receiving care at Primary Stroke Centers (PSCs)—The Joint Commission developed a new Disease-Specific Care Advanced Certification program for Comprehensive Stroke Centers (CSCs) in collaboration with the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association. The CSC requirements were derived from the Brain Attack Coalition’s “Recommendations for Comprehensive Stroke Centers”* and from the recommendations of a multidisciplinary advisory panel of experts in complex stroke care.