Viz.ai has announced a strategic collaboration with Medtronic to improve the coordination of cryptogenic stroke patient care between neurology and cardiology teams.
For stroke patients who are at risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) post-stroke and may need additional cardiac monitoring, stroke care teams in the USA will have the opportunity to use the Viz Connect solution—a software tool that automates the communication across disciplines, including neurology and cardiology.
Recent clinical study results indicate that both community hospitals and academic centres are in need of stronger, standardised care pathways between neurology and cardiology to ensure that stroke patients receive guideline-directed therapy, as stated in a recent press release. One example the release cites is the DiVERT Stroke clinical study, in which only 16% of stroke patients from community hospitals and 34% of patients at academic centres received a cardiology consult.
“Through our collaboration with Medtronic, we have the opportunity to bring cardiology and neurology closer together by using software tools that help facilitate stroke patient care,” said Chris Mansi, chief executive officer and co-founder at Viz.ai. “We are confident this collaboration will help more patients get the continuity of care and treatment they need to reduce secondary stroke recurrence.”
According to Viz.ai, Viz Connect has demonstrated impact on improving patient access to cardiac care after a cryptogenic stroke—strokes with an unknown cause, but that impact close to 800,000 people each year in the USA, require cardiac workup, and are followed by a second stroke within two years in roughly 20% of cases. Examples of Viz Connect’s impact detailed in the release include an average increase of more than 50% in in-patient cardiology follow-up, and an average time of under five minutes from when the notification is sent from neurology to when it is reviewed by a cardiologist.
“We look forward to helping hospital care teams more easily get patients to the right specialist at the right time,” said Stacey Churchwell, vice president and general manager, Cardiovascular Diagnostics and Services within the Cardiac Rhythm Management business, which is part of the Cardiovascular Portfolio at Medtronic.
