DNV supports elevation of stroke care through fourth consecutive year of the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® Stroke protocol
Stroke remains one of the most urgent global health challenges, and in the United States the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association have shaped the nation’s expectations for high-quality stroke care. Their quality program, Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke, gives hospitals a structured way to measure performance and follow evidence-based practices. For leaders outside the U.S., this is an important signal. When a certification framework is represented within Get With The Guidelines®, it reflects how U.S. hospitals view its rigor, credibility, and operational value.
The Role of the DNV Layer Tool within Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke The DNV
Layer tool helps hospitals pursue DNV stroke certification as a Primary Stroke Center (PSC), Thrombectomy Capable Stroke Center (TSC), or Comprehensive Stroke Center (CSC). Once enabled, it activates all data elements, logic, and digital reporting aligned to DNV’s requirements. Because this happens inside the Get With The Guidelines® platform, teams can document care once and meet certification expectations without creating additional workflows or systems, bringing efficiency to the process.
How Alignment Strengthens Performance
The Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke DNV Layer tool connects frontline documentation directly with DNV’s National Integrated Accreditation for Healthcare Organizations (NIAHO) standards and with expectations from the Brain Attack Coalition (BAC) and the American Stroke Association. By using Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke’s established structure, hospitals capture complete clinical data in real time. This approach reduces errors, eliminates unnecessary parallel documentation, and enhances certification readiness.
A Structure Designed for Real Clinical Work
Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke functions using “layers,” which are predefined bundles of required fields and logic. When the DNV layer is activated, the platform loads the full dataset for the certification level selected. Nothing is optional by default. This helps ensure teams do not miss critical measures such as door-to-imaging time, thrombolytic decision intervals, dysphagia screening, or steps in endovascular therapy (EVT). The result is more consistent performance across emergency, neurology, imaging, and the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Benefits for Clinical and Operational Leaders
For clinical teams, the DNV layer provides clear prompts at the moment documentation is needed, which reduces variation and builds confidence in the reliability of care. For leaders, it offers transparent insight into performance through standardized dashboards and trend analyses. Because documentation aligns directly with certification, organizations can more easily track progress, identify gaps, and maintain survey ready records. The tool also supports DNV’s tracer methodology by reinforcing complete documentation throughout the patient journey. Required fields, embedded rules, and case status visibility help quality teams close documentation gaps earlier and maintain consistent readiness rather than preparing only around survey cycles.
“Our alignment with the Get With The Guidelines®–Stroke program brings together clinical rigor and actionable data. The integrated reporting and benchmarking capabilities help DNVcertified stroke centers clearly demonstrate performance, transparency, and sustained excellence in patient care.” - Alex Imperial, Global Director of Healthcare, DNV
Supporting the Future of Stroke Care
Stroke care is evolving quickly as treatment windows shorten and EVT capabilities expand. Health systems need certification frameworks that integrate naturally with everyday workflows. Embedding DNV requirements inside the American Heart Association’s trusted national platform gives hospitals a scalable, disciplined way to sustain evidence-based performance. This connection strengthens both clinical outcomes and operational readiness while supporting reliable, patient centered stroke care.
Contact To learn more about DNV stroke certification pathways, requirements, or readiness planning, contact Ronell Myburgh
