Schmidt's Stroke Registry Bill Receives a Committee Hearing

COLUMBUS – The Ohio House Health Committee yesterday heard sponsor testimony from State Representative Jean Schmidt (R-Loveland) on House Bill 431, legislation to establish a stroke registry in Ohio.

“Stroke is the fifth-leading cause of death and a leading cause of disability among Americans,” said Schmidt. “In an effort to reduce the burden of stroke by improving the quality of care delivered to stroke patients, stroke registries have been developed to measure and track acute stroke care.”

Currently, Ohio uses the Ohio Coverdell Stroke Program, a data-driven quality improvement program for stroke treatment that provides resources to emergency medical service providers, hospital stroke teams and other healthcare providers to provide high quality stroke care to Ohioans. The issue, however, is that the program is funded by a CDC grant and is not always guaranteed. H.B. 431 aims to ensure that the Ohio Department of Health has the necessary time to utilize a stroke registry database and create a new one in the future if necessary.

Schmidt noted that the bill will not force the creation of a new, second registry, nor does it require stroke care centers to do any additional work if they are already utilizing the Ohio Coverdell Stroke Program. The bill simply codifies into law Ohio’s current stroke registry and ensures that future facilities participate in the registry.

“We have worked diligently to ensure that this bill allows Ohio to have a sound stroke registry without increasing the burden of work or cost for stroke centers and doctors,” said Schmidt. “In the end, we just want to ensure that Ohioans have access to the most up-to-date information so that we can save as many lives as possible.”

H.B. 431 now awaits additional committee hearings.