Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program
The Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program (Coverdell Program) funds state health departments to collect, measure, and track data to improve the quality of care for stroke patients. Since 2005, the Coverdell Program has reached more than 1 million stroke patients in almost 800 hospitals. Learn more from the Coverdell Program one-pager pdf icon[PDF – 211 KB].
The Coverdell Program works to ensure that all Americans receive the highest quality of care for stroke, a leading cause of death and long-term disability, by supporting coordinated stroke systems of care. In an effective stroke system of care, patient care and quality improvement is monitored from the time they have a stroke, through emergency medical services transport to the hospital, during in-hospital care, and through their discharge from the hospital to outpatient care.
Learn More About the Coverdell Program
The Coverdell Program connects health care professionals across stroke systems of care to help save lives. Learn more about the program:
The Coverdell Program supports coordinated partnerships among health care professionals so that patients get the best care from the time they have a stroke until they are discharged from the hospital and return to their primary care doctor for outpatient care.
To support health departments that are not funded by the Coverdell Program, CDC has launched the new Stroke Systems of Care Framework website. Health departments can explore key steps to establish statewide stroke systems of care and adapt strategies from previously funded programs to improve patient care in their state. Visit the Framework to learn more.
Featured Program Resources
Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program pdf icon[PDF – 211 KB]
Use this one-page resource, developed by CDC’s Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, to learn more about the Coverdell Program. Read about what the program does and who benefits from the work.
Stroke Communications Kit
Health professionals can share these social media messages, graphics, and resources to educate their audiences about the importance of stroke prevention.
Stroke Survivor Stories
CDC spotlights stroke survivors and the importance of stroke awareness. Visit our Survivor Stories webpage to learn more about stroke and how it can happen to anyone, including younger adults and new moms.
Modernizing Surveillance: Making Stroke Reporting More Efficient and Accurate
Learn how the Coverdell Program is working with CDC’s Surveillance Data Platform Vocabulary Service to improve data collection and support a standard way to assess and measure care. The program focuses on process and outcome quality improvements for stroke patients and uses data to track and measure acute stroke care.
