Case Study: National Park Medical Center achieves faster STEMI and stroke treatment (D2B <60 min; 80% faster door-to-CT) with Pulsara

National Park Medical Center Improves Treatment Times for STEMI and Stroke

National Park Medical Center, a 163‑bed Lifepoint Health hospital in Hot Springs, Arkansas, faced critical delays in treating STEMI and stroke patients because ECGs were sent by unreliable fax and visual data couldn’t be shared quickly with cardiologists and cath lab teams. To address this, the hospital implemented Pulsara, a mobile healthcare communication platform that unites care teams on a single patient channel, enabling faster prearrival notification and real‑time sharing of ECGs, vitals, and alerts.

Using Pulsara to coordinate EMS and in‑hospital teams, NPMC cut treatment times dramatically: average door‑to‑balloon (D2B) time dropped to under 60 minutes for three consecutive quarters and door‑to‑CT time for stroke fell from about 30 minutes to under 6 minutes (an 80% decrease). The platform’s instant alerts and shared patient channel sped cath lab activation and allowed clinicians to focus on care—contributing to faster interventions like the life‑saving stents placed in a recent STEMI patient.

National Park Medical Center

Priscilla Couch

Emergency Room Director